Workshop Presentation for Teaching for the 21st Century - Enhancing Education with Computational Thinking and Arduino Using ArduBlock and the Protosnap ProMini

1. Enhancing education with
computational thinking and Arduino
Brian Huang, Education Engineer
SparkFun Electronics
brian.huang@sparkfun.com
http://bit.ly/T21Con_SparkFun2013

2. About us...
Founded in 2003 by Nathan Seidle as a Junior
in EE at the Univ. of Colorad-Boulder.
Open Source Hardware Company
Focus on “Sharing Ingenuity” and providing
shortcuts to design and engineering.

3. Program or be programmed...
Develop REAL
Critical Thinking Skills

4. Teaching Computational Reasoning

5. Turtle Art / Net Logo / Scratch

6. Integrating the Physical

7. The power to create...

8. or things like these...

9. Rich, Project-based Learning
Opportunities
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Measurement - physical & time → units!
Mathematics
Algebraic Reasoning & Programming
Art, Color, Perception
Literacy & Writing
...

10. What I cannot create, I
do not understand.
-Richard Feynman

11. Understanding Programming and
Electronics is Empowering!

12. Arduino with Graphical
Programming
C / C++ Programming
void setup(){
pinMode(13, OUTPUT);
}
void loop(){
digitalWrite(13, HIGH);
delay(1000);
digitalWrite(13, LOW);
delay(1000);
}
ArduBlock Programming

13. Advantages
● No syntax errors
● It’s not over-simplified & uses the same
“language”
○ set Digital Pin
○ set Analog Pin
○ delay milliseconds
● Compiles to Arduino -- same language in the
background.

14. Installation Directions for Ardublock
Download jar file from:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/ardublock/files/ardublockbeta-20131031.jar/download
Move this file to a folder called: (download: tools.zip)
toolsArduBlockTooltool
inside your Arduino sketchbook folder (typically under My
Documents)

15. Learning Progression...
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Using Ardublock
Difference between setup() and loop()
How fast is a millisecond?
Analog vs. Digital - Fading
Sensor Input
Mixing Colors
Making sound!

16. Let’s Get Started!

17. Step 1 - Open up Arduino
Step 2 - Select Tools→ Board→ Uno
Step 3 - Select Tools → Serial Port
PC → highest com#
Mac → /dev/tty.usbserial-axxxx

18. Now - run ArduBlock (under
Tools - in case you missed it!)
Use the Open command to open up
the file called: T21Con_Sketch1.abp
Move the blocks around - click Upload
to Arduino and watch!
What’s the difference between setup()
and loop()?

19. Play, Explore, and Synthesize…
(timer)

20. Reflection / De-briefing Questions...
● What is the difference between setup() and
loop()
● set Digital Pin has two “states” what are they?
● What do they mean?
● Show and Tell
○ 5 Second Timer
○ Heart Beat

21. Lightening Round →
~30 minutes or less left in session… 6 activities
/ example sketches for you to play with.
Play around. See how you can incorporate
aspects from each activity to make something
new!
How might you use this in your class?
Tweet your ideas to #T21Con #SparkFun

22. You are all awesome!!!

23. Thank You!
Enhancing education with
computational thinking and Arduino
Brian Huang, Education Engineer
SparkFun Electronics -- www.sparkfun.com
Promo Code:
EDUT21Con2013
brian.huang@sparkfun.com
http://bit.ly/T21Con_SparkFun2013