Tag Archives: learning through making

New free resources for young people to become independent digital makers

Post Syndicated from Rik Cross original https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/free-coding-resources-children-young-people-digital-making-independence/

Our mission at the Raspberry Pi Foundation is to help learners get creative with technology and develop the skills and confidence they need to make things that matter to them using code and physical computing. One of the ways in which we do this is by offering learners a catalogue of more than 250 free digital making projects! Some of them have been translated into 30 languages, and they can be used with or without a Raspberry Pi computer.

  • Two girls code at a laptop.
  • A child codes at a desktop computer.

Over the last 18 months, we’ve been developing an all-new format for these educational projects, designed to better support young people who want to learn coding, whether at home or in a coding club, on their digital making journey.

An illustration of the 3-2-1 structure of the new Raspberry Pi Foundation coding project paths.
Our new free learning content for young people who want to create with technology has a 3-2-1 structure (click the image to enlarge)

Supporting learners to become independent tech creators

In the design process of the new project format, we combined:

  • Leading research
  • Experience of what works in Code Clubs, CoderDojos, and other Raspberry Pi programmes
  • Feedback from the community

While designing the new format for our free projects, we found that, as well as support and opportunities to practise while acquiring new skills and knowledge, learners need a learning journey that lets them gradually develop and demonstrate increasing independence.

  • Smiling learners in a computing classroom
  • A young girl solders something at a worktop while a man looks over her shoulder.

Therefore, each of our new learning paths is designed to scaffold learners’ success in the early stages, and then lets them build upon this learning by providing them with more open-ended tasks and inspirational ideas that learners can adapt or work from. Each learning path is made up of six projects, and the projects become less structured as learners progress along the path. This allows learners to practise their newly acquired skills and use their creativity and interests to make projects that matter to them. In this way, learners develop more and more independence, and when they reach the final project in the path, they are presented with a simple project brief. By this time they have the skills, practice, and confidence to meet this brief any way they choose!

The new content structure

When a learner is ready to develop a new set of coding skills, they choose one of our new paths to embark on. Each path is made up of three different types of projects in a 3-2-1 structure:

  • The first three Explore projects introduce learners to a set of skills and knowledge, and provide step-by-step instructions to help learners develop initial confidence. Throughout these projects, learners have lots of opportunity to personalise and tinker with what they’re creating.
  • The next two Design projects are opportunities for learners to practise the skills they learned in the previous Explore projects, and to express themselves creatively. Learners are guided through creating their own version of a type of project (such as a musical instrument, an interactive pet, or a website to support a local event), and they are given code examples to choose, combine, and customise. No new skills are introduced in these projects, so that learners can focus on practising and on designing and creating a project based on their own preferences and interests.
  • In the final one Invent project, learners focus on completing a project to meet a project brief for a particular audience. The project brief is written so that they can meet it using the skills they’ve learned by following the path up to this point. Learners are provided with reference material, but are free to decide which skills to use. They need to plan their project and decide on the order to carry out tasks.

As a result of working through a path, learners are empowered to make their own ideas and create solutions to situations they or their communities face, with increased independence. And in order to develop more skills, learners can work through more paths, giving them even more choice about what they create in the future.

  • A boy working on a Raspberry Pi robot buggy
  • At a Coolest Projects event, wo girls show off the digital making projects they've coded.

More features for an augmented learning experience

We’ve also introduced some new features to add interactivity, choice, and authenticity to each project in a path:

  • Real-world info box-outs provide interesting and relevant facts about the skills and knowledge being taught.
  • Design decision points allow learners to make choices about how their project looks and what it does, based on their preferences and interests.
  • Debugging tips throughout each project give learners guidance for finding and fixing common coding mistakes.
  • Project reflection steps solidify new knowledge and provide opportunities for mastery by letting learners revisit the important learnings from the project. Common misconceptions are highlighted, and learners are guided to the correct answer.
  • At the start of each project, learners can interact with example creations from the community, and at the end of a project, they are encouraged to share what they’ve made. Thus, learners can find inspiration in the creations of their peers and receive constructive feedback on their own projects.
  • An open-ended upgrade step at the end of each project offers inspiration for young people to give them ideas for ways in which they could continue to improve upon their project in the future.

Access the new free learning content now

You can discover our new paths on our projects site right now!

Let me see the new free learning paths

We’ll be adding even more content soon, including completely new Python programming and web development paths!

As always, we’d love to know what you think: here’s a feedback form for you to share comments you have about our new content!

For feedback specific to an individual project, you can use the feedback link in the footer of that project’s page as usual.

The post New free resources for young people to become independent digital makers appeared first on Raspberry Pi.

Spread the joy of learning through making

Post Syndicated from original https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/spread-the-joy-of-learning-through-making/

From our first prototype way back in 2006, to the very latest Raspberry Pi 400, everything we have built here at Raspberry Pi has been driven by a desire to inspire learning. I hope that each of you who uses our products discovers — or rediscovers — the joy of learning through making. The journey from technology consumer to technology creator can be a transformational one; today, on Giving Tuesday, I’m asking you to help even more young people make that journey.

Donate to the Raspberry Pi Foundation on Giving Tuesday

Too few young people have the chance to learn how technology works and how to harness its power. Pre-existing disparities in access to computing education have been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. At the Raspberry Pi Foundation, we’re on a mission to change this, and we’re working harder than ever to support young people and educators with free learning opportunities. Our partner CanaKit supports the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s mission, and they’ve extended the generous offer to match your donations up to a total of $5,000.

Double the impact of your donation today!

Alongside our low-cost, high-performance computers and free software, you may know that the Raspberry Pi Foundation provides free educational programmes including coding clubs and educator training for millions of people each year in dozens of countries. You might not know that the Raspberry Pi Foundation was founded as, and still remains, a nonprofit organisation. Our education mission is powered by dedicated volunteers, and our programmes are funded in part thanks to our customers who buy Raspberry Pi products, and in part by charitable donations from people like you.

A smiling girl holding a robot buggy in her lap

Every donation we receive makes an impact on the young people and educators who rely on the Raspberry Pi Foundation. Ryka, for example, is a 10-year-old who attends one of our CoderDojo clubs. Since March she’s been using our project guides and following our Digital Making at Home code-along live streams. Her parents tell us: 

“We were looking at ways to keep Ryka engaged during this lockdown period and came across Digital Making at Home. As a parent I can see that there has been discernible improvement in her abilities. We’ve noticed that she is engaged and takes interest in showing us what she was able to build. It has been a great use of her time.” 

– Parent of a young person who learns through our programmes

Ryka joins millions of learners in our community around the world, many of whom now rely on us more than ever with schools and extracurricular activities disrupted. Through the ongoing support of our donors and volunteers, we’ve been able to rise to the challenge of the pandemic:

Young coders and digital makers need our help in the year ahead as they take control of their computing education under challenging and uncertain circumstances. As a donor to the Raspberry Pi Foundation, you will be investing in our youngest generation of innovators and helping to create a spark in a young person’s life. On Giving Tuesday, I am grateful to each of you for the role you play in creating a world where everyone can learn, solve problems, and shape their future through the power of technology. 

Thank you for supporting Raspberry Pi on Giving Tuesday

PS Thank you again to our friends at CanaKit for doubling the impact of every donation, up to $5000! 

The post Spread the joy of learning through making appeared first on Raspberry Pi.