Making a Case for Arduino - ETP17

@kshuntley#PukunuiTips @kshuntley
Making a Case for Arduino
EdtechPosium 2017 #etp17 @kshuntley
Kenneth Scott Huntley
Consultant/Trainer

• There’s a chance you’ve come to this thinking “OMG
Let’s make a case for my Arduino!”
@kshuntleyEdtechPosium 2017 #etp17 @kshuntley

3D Printers at ALDI for only $300
BUCKS! Woo-hoo!
Let’s ﬁre this up and print
some arduino cases! Woo-hoo! Maker
Faire! ROCK ON!

Well ﬁrstly, this doesn’t go on sale
until November 1st.
…but the closest ALDI is at Majura Park

• My apologies because we ain’t doing that today.
• But in this presentation, I’m going to make a case
for why Arduino should be a candidate for teaching
programming to beginners.
• And I have three reasons why.

1. Arduino is similar to C

The computer language C is
probably an extremely strong
candidate for a Intro to Programming class.
Why?

Syntax Similar to C
Syntax Similar to C
Syntax Similar to C
Syntax Similar to C
Syntax Similar to C
Syntax Similar to C
Somewhat Similar to Objective-C
Actually is C

Arduino is similar to C
So many languages have a syntax similar to C, that it’s
advantageous to teach something similar to C.
• Making a transition to another language should be easier
as you don’t need to relearn the syntax.
• Perhaps there’s a counter argument that teaching a language
such as SmallTalk would be a better candidate to teach
concepts such as Object Oriented Programming
unencumbered by the syntax.
• But that doesn’t fit this narrative so…

In what universe is Arduino similar to C?
This is C
This is Arduino

• So what is Arduino?
• Open Source microcontroller
board.
• This particular one is the
Uno, Italian for first - a
perfect starter board.
• It has 6 analog input pins
and 14 input/output pins.
• i.e. you can hook up
sensors to it (input)
• or turn on motors or lights
(output)

• It comes with an IDE
for you to write
sketches for your
board. 
• i.e. a sketch is a
program

This does look like C.

setup() function is run once when
the board is turned on.
loop() function is run forever until
the board is turned off.

This is the Arduino
“Hello World” - blink an led
on the board every second.

Teach all the concepts!!
variables, constants, arrays,
control structures, loops, data
types, functions, external
libraries, etc

And when you’re ready to C, C++, PHP,
JavaScript, etc, you know the basic concepts
and have learned them in a syntax similar to C.

Too much too fast?

There’s even alternative IDEs, like
Ardublock, which show your sketches
visually and may help some learners
visualise their code.

2. Arduino is fun

Arduino is fun
• When teaching programming at TAFE, I had trouble
getting my cohort of students interested in
programming.
• They have grown up in a culture where turning on
pixels on a screen ain’t exciting.
• Blinking an actual physical light is far more
exciting.
• They can see the actual connection between their
screens and the real world.

Arduino is gateway to IOT & the Maker Culture
Meet the Arduino “Lilypad”.
All the fun of Arduino + sewing with
conductive thread.

Let’s make a tie, and add a sensor, like a
temperature sensor, and an RGB LED to
change colours based on the
temperature.

Or a whole lot of RGB LEDs!

Why not connect it to a Light Blue Bean
and connect it to my iPhone and receive
notiﬁcations to turn on the RGB LEDs?

Or the Particle Photon, so I can connect
over wiﬁ; and they have an IFTTT
channel!

Or, let’s use an UDOO NEO,
which is a hybrid Raspberry Pi type
board and an Arduino board. You can
program the board on the board!
And the pins are set up to use
Arduino shields.

Arduino shields! Stack
them on your Arduino to add
more functionality - like an
Ethernet shield! Let’s get this
online!

Or this shield that has LED
numeric displays.

Did I mention Raspberry Pi?
Raspberry Pi is AWESOME!

But the teeny tiny
Raspberry Pi Zero is SUPER
AWESOME!
I can lose this in my couch
cushions!

Raspberry Pi CASES! OMG So
beautiful!

OOOOOHHHH so Beautiful!
WANT WANT WANT

IoT is so much fun, you
end up bringing more pieces
to conferences than you can ever
hope to demo in a 20 minute
talk.

This board is the gateway drug

Of course, when you’re
trying to convince your
partner to go to ALDI tomorrow
to buy a 3D printer because
you’re travelling, you might get
the whole “look at all the money
you’ve spent!”
Oh no my love, because…

3. Arduino is cheap

• So now that you want an
Arduino Uno, how much is it
going to cost you?
• Arduino Uno from Little Bird
Electronics is $55
• Core Electronics sells at $42
• Still a little pricey to buy for a
whole class of 20 students.

• Arduino is Open Source
hardware
• i.e you can buy a knock off
and not feel too bad about
yourself
• Sparkfun Redboard - same
thing as the Uno, except with a
different USB port
• $29 from Core and Little
Bird

• Let’s get even cheaper
• banggood.com
• You can make your own joke at
that website name
• Also check out
aliexpress.com
• Both based in China, takes a
little while to arrive in
Australia
• Usually have very good
prices

• The Geekcreit on Banggood
• An UNO clone
• $29, shipping included
• FOR 5 OF THEM!

At $3.64 a pop, suddenly outﬁtting a
classroom with Arduino UNO clones isn’t as
outrageous.
Buy 20 boards, a handful of sensors
and shields to share, maybe spring for some
cheap cases, you have an IOT lab before you
know it.

• Is this the best way to run an Intro to Programming
type class?
• Perhaps not.
• Teaching a traditional programming language such
as C, or even something fun like Python, is probably
still the best option.
• But this could be a fun alternative, especially with
a non-traditional class
• It can open the doors to non-programmer types to
see that programming isn’t just pixels on a screen.

arduino.cc
arduino.cc/en/Main/Education

Thank You!
Questions?
Continue the conversation:
@kshuntley
www.linkedin.com/in/kshuntley/
learn.pukunui.com or www.scott.technology
scott@pukunui.com or scott@kshuntley.com

Making a Case for Arduino - ETP17

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