
Ask HN: What's been your K-12 STEM coding outreach experience? - Jtsummers
There&#x27;s a local hacker space with an explicit STEM outreach mission
literally blocks from my apartment. They are, unfortunately,
struggling due to a lack of volunteers. In the past I&#x27;ve worked with
other STEM programs, mostly with high schoolers, but also with middle
schoolers, but never as a project lead, just as an assistant or
instructor. I&#x27;ve spoken to them in the past about setting up a
programming course, and now have the time to pursue it.<p>I would like to put together a series of courses introducing students
(middle school?) to programming an Arduino or similar [0]. There is
fortunately an abundance of options available these days. So I&#x27;m
turning to you, HN, for some input.<p>1) Do you have any experience (volunteer, professional educator, etc.)
with this sort of educational program? What was it.<p>2) What devices like the Arduino do you have experience with? Opinions
on their effectiveness or ineffectiveness for this sort of program.<p>3) Suggested existing curricula or competitions to base this course
off of or participate in.<p>4) What programming environments (languages, editors, etc.) do you
have experience with in this space and what&#x27;s your experience or
opinion on their effectiveness as introductory environments for
students?<p>[0] Why I want to stick with microcontroller&#x2F;embedded devices:<p>1) They already have a game programming and a web programming
course. IMHO, these are not well run, but they already exist.<p>2) Arduino and similar class devices are relatively inexpensive. I&#x27;d
even be able to provide the capital (depending on the number of
students) to purchase a number of units to give to the students.<p>3) Unlike setting them in front of a computer and letting them hack,
they can take these devices with them when they&#x27;re done to show off
their handiwork to friends, or program at home.<p>4) It&#x27;s relatively easy, by design, to connect these to external
sensors, displays, motors, etc. for tactile feedback.
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tmaly
I have been wanting to put something together for my kid, but right now at the
age of 3, its a little too early. I have a great domain I have held since 2003
that fits this perfectly. I did break out a bread board and wired up a LED and
toggle switch. At the age of 3, a toggle switch is pretty interesting.

I have programmed with Motorola HC12 micro controllers back in the day. I
recently bought a Raspberry Pi, and I have a C.H.I.P shipping shortly.

If I were to develop something in this space, it would probably be something
fun for Halloween or Christmas with some LEDs or animated physical characters.

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Jtsummers
Because my post got too large:

One possibility for this would be to do a pilot program that's more age
agnostic. Something in the evenings with students and adults, since we'll have
already missed the boat on getting something together for a summer camp type
experience.

This will give us an opportunity to experiment and iterate on various
concepts, and if other adults or skilled students show up we can possibly
recruit them as instructors or assistants for a later, school-age targeted,
program.

