Ardunio

https://www.arduino.cc/

Arduino is a is both a hardware and software that helps develop skills in programming and electronics. The main hardware is a microcontroller (mini computer) which comes in various sizes. These microcontrollers can be programmed using the free Arduino software via a computer. They sky is the limit as to what you can program/build them to do. (Montironi et al., 2017)

Once students gain basic coding concepts like loops, if/when, etc; via more basic programs like Scratch, they can move onto typing their own code and building their knowledge from there. 

The Arduino brand recommends their products for persons 10 years old and upwards. Relatively cheap hardware and free software. Their products are open source, meaning that they can be freely available, distributed and modified.

Students will not only be looking into computer science with coding, but will be looking into technology and physics with the many variants in electronics. Because Arduino has a limitless potential, it creates a heightened creativity level in students (Jamieson, 2011)

Other ideas for Arduino:

•Within biology and field ecology programming and utilising abiotic sensors 

(eg temperature, soil moisture, light, etc.) 

•Incorporating into arts, example: designing fashion with a programmed circuit of LEDs throughout the dress 

•Within health through programmed use of DIY heart rate sensors 

•Robotics and Engineering (Candelas et al., 2015)  

Curriculum links:

Apply design thinking, creativity, innovation and enterprise skills to develop, modify and communicate design ideas of increasing sophistication (VCDSCD061)

Work flexibly to safely test, select, justify and use appropriate technologies and processes to make designed solutions (VCDSCD062)

Electric circuits can be designed for diverse purposes using different components; the operation of circuits can be explained by the concepts of voltage and current (VCSSU130)

Design algorithms represented diagrammatically and in structured English and validate algorithms and programs through tracing and test cases (VCDTCD052)

Develop modular programs, applying selected algorithms and data structures including using an object-oriented programming language (VCDTCD053)

Design and implement mathematical algorithms using a simple general purpose programming language (VCMNA254)