{"id":300,"date":"2012-05-07T00:50:24","date_gmt":"2012-05-07T00:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/redpincushion.me\/?p=300"},"modified":"2012-05-07T00:50:24","modified_gmt":"2012-05-07T00:50:24","slug":"arduino-oh-yes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redpincushion.us\/blog\/teaching-and-learning\/arduino-oh-yes\/","title":{"rendered":"Arduino? Oh yes!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"LilyPad<\/a><\/p>\n

This week, I spent a bit of time talking about Arduino. I talked with a dance professor about using LilyPad Arduino<\/a>\u00a0in costumes. I talked to a colleague about Mothership HackerMoms<\/a>, a hackerspace dedicated to supporting mothers who make. Though I don’t know of any specific projects they have done or will do using Arduino, I can imagine several interesting uses in a mothers-focused makespace. I \u00a0excitedly chatted with a co-worker about the upcoming Maker Faire<\/a> where I am sure Arduino will be well represented. And then, to top the week off, I read this exciting blog by a grad student at UTD<\/a>, @amypickup<\/a> on Twitter,\u00a0whose graduate project involves teaching young girls about Arduino.<\/p>\n

You know that I am a fan of making<\/a>. I advocate for making both from my personal values, as a sewer and canner, and from my professional values, as I believe making is a fun and effective way to learn. So, how does Arduino play into my excitement for making? I’m glad you asked!<\/p>\n

First, let me explain what Arduino is. Here is a good description, straight from the Arduino website<\/a>: “Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It’s intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments.” Arduino is one kind of inexpensive microcontroller now available to the masses. Microcontrollers allow for physical computing, using programming to control physical events, without a high degree of difficulty. You can learn more about microcontrollers from this What’s A Microcontroller?<\/a> guide and this Getting Started Guide<\/a> from MAKE Magazine. Additionally, MAKE offers\u00a0several pages on their website dedicated to Arduino<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Microcontrollers like Arduino have made programming accessible to people of all ages and computing abilities. We now see microcontrollers used in Young Makers Club, arts and crafts, and toys (like Legos!). But where we don’t see a lot of use (yet) is in education. What I think would help is some kind of website or database of course projects that make use of microcontrollers, and not just in computer science and engineering courses. Can we develop and share Arduino projects for English courses? How about History and Geography courses? Art courses? Please share any resources or ideas you have.<\/p>\n

If you are ready to start working with your own Arduino, check out ladyada.net ‘s fantastic tutorials<\/a> and Leah Buechley’s LilyPad Arduino tutorials<\/a>. You can find tons of project ideas in MAKE Magazine<\/a> and on Instructables<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I’ve been thinking about devices I would making using an Arduino. Here are some of my ideas:<\/p>\n