If you came by Vicki Spitalnick’s and my poster session at FETC18 (or even if you didn’t) here is an online version of our poster with links and resources embedded in.
STUDENT BUILT “SMART” PROJECTS
How to Help Your Students Use Microcontrollers in Classroom Projects
What is a Microcontroller?
A microcontroller is a circuit board that has at least a microprocessor (the brain), a way to program the microprocessor to do what you want, and a variety of inputs and outputs to which you can attach things like lights, motors, buttons, or sensors. Think of it as a tiny and inexpensive computer. It may only do a few things but can fit into whatever project you or your students may be working on.
Why Use Microconrollers?
Microcontrollers are great for students when they want to build a project that will record or interact with its environment. Maybe your students want to create a weather station that records temperature data outside of your classroom for an extended period of time, or create a set of buttons that run a quiz game program written in Scratch. Maybe they want to add a remote control to a lamp, or rebuild one of their own remote controlled cars so that it can be programmed to do things autonomously. The truth is, you probably have no idea what your students may do with a microcontroller, and neither will they until they have an amazing idea and start building.
What is Arduino?
Arduino is an open-source electronics platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software. A worldwide community of makers: students, hobbyists, artists, programmers, and professionals, have gathered around this open-source platform. Their contributions have resulted in an incredible amount of accessible knowledge useful to both novices and experts alike. The Arduino platform is easy-to-use for beginners and flexible enough for advanced users.
Boards
- BBC Micro:bit
- Adafruit Circuit Playground Express
- Adafruit M0 / Circuit Python boards
- Arduino
- Particle Boards
Language / IDE
Kris Swanson dot Blog 