The Raspberry Pi is a $35 computer about the size of a credit card. Its capabilities are astounding and it keeps getting more and more powerful as new models are released. What’s most impressive is the way it transforms complex projects into amazingly simple machines and helps shape future ready students through organized, hands-on and tech-friendly adventures!
Just What is a Raspberry Pi?
The miniature technological marvel, known around the world as the Raspberry Pi, has only been around since 2012, but has already made an enormous splash in both the tech and education worlds. This credit card-sized computer was actually conceived specifically for use in education, but its versatility and power have led to it being used in all kinds of hobby-related and serious scientific projects and experiments. Raspberry Pi’s creator, Eben Upton, was determined to create a low-cost device that would be able to effectively introduce students to programming and hardware long before they enter college. It certainly was used for that purpose and has played a role in helping advance STEM education, but the Raspberry Pi’s reach has extended far beyond the classroom.
Essentially, the most basic function of a Raspberry Pi is to replace your traditional computer with an equally capable circuit board. If you have a Pi, it’s no longer necessary for you to use that tower next to you on the floor—the one with the CD drive and all the ports you don’t know what to do with. While it is slower than most modern laptops, the Raspberry Pi prides itself on portability and packing a lot of power into its tiny frame. Despite its small stature, it is still a full-scale Linux computer and can provide users with most normal PC capabilities. It features a connection to add power, an HDMI port to set up display and USB ports to add Internet, Bluetooth or many other tools.
Each Raspberry Pi board (it’s up to its third generation) is open hardware. A great deal of the projects made with Raspberry Pi are open as well and there are plenty of ideas available online for things makers can build and modify themselves. Any projects or tutorials designed for previous versions of the board should still work with the newer models as well. There are two Raspberry Pi models—the A and B. The Model A comes with 256 MB of RAM and just one USB port. The B (the current model) comes with more USB ports, an Ethernet port and 512 GB of RAM. With each new version of the Raspberry Pi comes a series of user-friendly improvements that help bring invention, tinkering and hands-on learning further into the 21st century.
Getting Started with Raspberry Pi
Everyone involved with education seems to constantly be buzzing about the importance and intrigue of STEM education. If teachers can finagle a cost effective and age-appropriate way to introduce their students to coding, programming and in-depth project-based learning, you can bet they’re going to do it. With so many technology tools available to educators (and many coming with an Educator Discount), maker education is continuing to boom. One of the most prolific staples in makerspaces has, since its creation, been the Raspberry Pi. Raspberry Pi’s popularity among STEM educators has grown steadily over the years due, in large part, to its affordability and adaptability in the classroom and the teacher-friendly simplicity packed inside this little board.
Raspberry Pi’s are designed specifically to enable schools to teach computer science easily, effectively and affordably. To use the boards, all you need to do is connect them to a monitor, keyboard and mouse. This simple set-up is the most common way to use the Pi, but it is also possible to configure it to use remotely. The scope of things that a Raspberry Pi can do is quite extensive and the creative ways that students can use them are really left up to their imagination. It provides an ideal environment to teach children about programming on a Web program like Scratch—one of its most important uses. Using a Raspberry Pi, kids can also construct projects that range from DIY sensors to weather stations.
Since it may be daunting for teachers to figure out just where to start, there is plenty of information available that will help you navigate. Remember that the Pi is designed for beginners, so, if you are determined to master it, it shouldn’t be too difficult! If you’re still afraid to break it out in a live classroom setting, teachers can really benefit from introducing a Raspberry Pi to just a small group of students. Remember, also, that there are simple beginner-level projects you can do to help get familiar with the Pi—don’t think you have to jump off the deep end and build a high-tech robot on the first day. And, finally, don’t try to build anything with your students that you haven’t already built yourself and remember that mistake making is a big part of learning to program—don’t be afraid to explore and make as many of them as you want!
All About the Brand New Raspberry Pi 3
The newest model of the Raspberry Pi was released back on Feb. 29 of this year—either the first or fourth anniversary of the release of the original model. At that time, Raspberry Pi had sold more than 8 million units to makers, teachers, hobbyists and students around the world with promising innovation in the Pi 3 poised to extend that number a great deal. As could be expected, the ‘3’ came packed with a whole slew of improvements both to enhance the user experience and maximize the Pi’s power. It became the first in the Raspberry Pi line to contain a 64-bit processor as well as the first to have on-board Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and it’s available for one of the lowest prices around on our store.
The new model still boasts the Raspbian ARMv6 operating system, but the 64-bit core allows the Pi to broaden its range of operating systems. This essentially means that the new model will still be compatible with most of the older models, something that was important to the Raspberry Pi Foundation throughout the design process. Since the Raspberry Pi was designed with education in mind, it has always been a point of emphasis for them that they avoid wiping out any work that students and teachers have done in the classroom to date. Like its two predecessors, the Raspberry Pi 3 is a stepping stone to get kids programming and a truly viable desktop replacement.
It’s now a lot easier to actually use a Raspberry Pi as your desktop computer. In fact, the Raspberry Pi 3 is 50 percent faster than the Raspberry Pi 2 and 10 times the speed of the original Raspberry Pi, making it a legitimately credible PC. Users can even use their Pi 3as a hub for constructing the Internet of Things thanks to the additions of both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, extending project possibilities in and out of the classroom. Its configuration allows the Pi to get its Internet access by joining a wireless network while simultaneously providing a second network as an access point to a cloud of sensors, extending the reach of the original network to previously inaccessible places. All in all, the Raspberry Pi 3 is much improved and a visibly potent tool for all avenues of maker-minded exploration.
Amazing Ways Raspberry Pi Improves Education
We already know that the Raspberry Pi is a wallet-sized computer that can, in a pinch, be used to substitute for the real thing. That, of course, is pretty amazing in and of itself, but the things that students, makers and innovators have created with Raspberry Pi at the center are nothing short of mind-blowing. Whether it’s creating devices that serve a practical and helpful purpose or just constructing toys that are fun to have around, the power of the Raspberry Pi is felt constantly in the education and maker communities. And, we’re here to inspire you to be a part of the ever-growing Maker Movement.
One thing that’s great about the Raspberry Pi for teachers is that, if they use them in their classrooms, they can become certified Raspberry Pi educators, meaning they’ve been recognized as an educator who is trying to advance STEM education and teach coding using the Pi. The Raspberry Pi can transform dull lessons into active learning experiences in computer science and other STEM classes. Amazing projects aside, Raspberry Pi’s can truly help enlighten students to how wonderful programming can be as well as give them an indication of its persistent presence in the real world. There’s literally no limits to the creative uses of Raspberry Pi—like making Pi-controlled robot dinosaurs, for instance. The Raspberry Pi represents versatility in innovation and plenty of students and teachers have figured this out in the last four years.
They can even take it upon themselves to introduce Raspberry Pi’s to the rest of the school by starting afterschool STEM clubs to show them off and add to their own skills. This typically results in a rise of interest in computer science and STEM from other students around the school, further driving home the ultimate goal of the product. Teachers can even attend Picademy—a free Raspberry Pi training service for educators—to become fluent in all it can do! Further, sharing is a big part of the Raspberry Pi community as teachers are always finding their own inspiration and passing it on to fellow educators. Most importantly, Raspberry Pi is an invaluable tool for helping teach and promote important computer science concepts and shape innovators of the future.
Great Raspberry Pi Projects for the Classroom
Since the Raspberry Pi was created for classroom use and bettering the skills of students after all, we thought we’d close out this edition of the Eduporium Weekly with some pertinent suggestions. Engaging in and completing Raspberry Pi-inspired projects in the classroom is super easy, incredibly fun and highly beneficial for students. And, the best part is that, there’s not really an age requirement for playing with Pi. Though it is geared a bit more toward older students, younger kids can try to complete the projects, too if they want! Anyways, here are some good ways to use the Raspberry Pi in the classroom when the new school year starts!
Kids can play Minecraft on their Raspberry Pi computers—it even comes preloaded on some of them. Extremely popular, Minecraft, of course, excels at activating student programming skills and actually enhancing learning instead of hindering it. It’s also really easy to just jump right in to physical computing using one of the Raspberry Pi models. Kids can create projects like replica traffic lights or weather stations and, in the process, become very familiar with the board and the functions of the GPIO pins and the hardware involved. Even when projects don’t involve engaging in coding directly or even dealing with code at all, the Raspberry Pi is still a powerful tool to illustrate to kids how real-world systems are devised as well as how they actually work.
There are also lots of Raspberry Pi extensions, like the Gertboard, GoPiGo Robot, MonkMakes, and Astro Pi, for example. Kids can use this augmented Raspberry Pi sensor for anything from data collection and other science experiments all the way up to playing games! Raspberry Pi’s can also be used to stream video and teach kids about infrared lighting in collaborative or individual projects. Plus, they have a role to play in the robotics revolution currently infiltrating K-12 classrooms, too! Raspberry Pi’s can control motors, serve as a homemade chassis or even be made into game controllers, things that its creators sure are proud to know that innovative makers conceived! Try the Raspberry Pi in your classroom this school year and, if you do, let us know how it went!
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