The Raspberry Pi had intrigued me with the
variety of options for infusing computer skills into my Technology class.
How did you introduce the Raspberry Pi to your
students? We started by watching a video (Introduction to Raspberry Pi 3) to provided
background information on the computer, its parts, and operating systems. In
this instance, using a video for the introduction was the best pedagogical
choice to help keep student attention and keep the “lecture” moving. After a
quick class discussion of the video, students connected up their Pi and installed
the operating system. We installed the Raspbian operating system using the NOOBS installer. Copying NOOBS to the microSD card took no time at all, but the
actual installation of Raspbian on the Pi took about 10-15 minutes. During this
time, we played Around the World using the terms presented in the video. Once
the operating system was installed, students had time to begin exploring it.
What did the students do with the Raspberry Pi? For starters, we explored the Raspberry Pi in
terms of coding options. A couple of students worked in the program Scratch to
create their own games from “scratch” using block-based coding (yes, Scratch
can be done on any computer not just a Pi). One Scratch game was an animated
interactive story between characters and in another game a character moved through
various levels to touch a coin to gain points. A student had the idea of
combining the Makey Makeys we used at the beginning of the year to create a
controller to use with his own Scratch game. The rest of the students had
noticed that several classic and highly addictive Python games came installed
on the Pi such as Wormy, Four in a Row, Gem Gem and Squirrel. To promote the
educational aspect, I demonstrated how to get into the code for the game, what
the code means, and how to make edits. Students set about changing variables
such as speed and points, modifying colors, rewording text, and editing or
completely replacing images. I had one group figure out how to transform a
human vs computer four in a row game into a human vs human game. A different
group worked on incorporating additional blocks to eat in the worm game.
What did you think about your class time with the
Raspberry Pi? Over the course of time working with the
Raspberry Pi, we only scratched the surface of possibilities. I was impressed
with what we did accomplish: learning about computer parts, setting up the Pi,
troubleshooting the Pi, and time for either an intro to Python coding by
editing code or tinkering with block coding in Scratch. Throughout, it seemed
as though the students were more focused on coding than if I had given them a
regular laptop and asked them to do the same thing (Win!).
I also enjoyed the fact that each pair of
students had their own microSD card, making it seem as if the computer was
actually theirs. This cut back on the potential issue of work disappearing
between classes and allowed students to take risks such as installing programs
or changing settings. I had only one group that managed to adjust enough
settings so that it was necessary to start over with a fresh install of the OS,
which really isn’t time consuming.
What items were needed? A Raspberry Pi and power cord for each station. I
chose to have the students work in pairs for this project to cut back on the
required number of stations. Each pair of students received their own microSD
card to use for the duration of the project. The school already owned
compatible monitors, keyboards, and mice.
