We are going to do this.
I have met many developers and parents who say that they have a Raspberry Pi but can’t find the time or way to get started. This post is for you.
I was given the opportunity to attend the first ever Raspberry Pi Educator training in the United States at the Computer History Museum this past weekend. The Raspberry Pi team (who are brilliant, lovely people) modeled a teaching and learning approach that can help you incorporate the Raspberry Pi into whatever you are doing and finally get going on projects you imagined or problems that need solving.
1. Do tutorials
Marc (@coding2learn) straight up told us. You don’t sit and think and plan. You start typing code and running it to see what it does. We did tutorials on SenseHat, Minecraft, Python, cameras, GPIO Zero and physical computing. The process of copying code then altering it slightly to see what it does is how you can build skills. Keep doing this over and over. Before the training I was too worried about a tutorial being interesting or related enough or too complicated or too simple. Do them all and see how it relates to things you do. Then mash them together and tweak — suddenly you are a hacker. You can begin with all the “Getting started” articles.
2. Manufacture a sense of urgency
Even better, make that sense of urgency related to a problem you want to solve. During Day 1, we got comfortable. We plugged and unplugged the Pi until it was natural. We used the Python IDE and ran programs until it seemed we always knew how to do it. We developed a sense for how the code talks to the hardware and that too became intuitive. Then, on Day 2, the scaffolding was quietly packed away as we were led out of our comfort zone. When Matt (@MattRichardson ) said ‘hackathon,’ I got nervous. As I generated ideas and thought about projects through the night and morning I became quite uncomfortable. The challenge and the discomfort created energy. That energy helped me tear through our three hour project with the motto that I repeated to my teammate Jessica,
“We are going to do this.”
Create a timeboxed event and make it feel important. Call it a hackathon. Find someone with a problem and commit to solving it on a deadline. Try your best for a few hours and weeks then call it done or Model A. Post about it. Give yourself a weekend challenge and invite friends for a party to show it off. If you are the facilitator of the event, remember the teacher and mentor role is to know the students can do it (to the point where failure is redefined) and help bust roadblocks (have some experts on hand if possible). We failed mostly, got something working (thanks Marc!), and plan to keep hacking on it. My project was something I had imagined and been thinking about for a long time to solve a problem I have. It is a relief and joy to see it in the world.
3. Find and follow affinities (aka future friends)
You would be fine for Number 1 going solo. (though it’s better to have someone when things go awry). Number 2 is a group thing (though you will at times be wrestling alone in the dark with code and documentation). You need to coagulate and bring some people into your general learning situation. It could be through a club, meetup, friends, family, co-workers, fellow artists, fellow scientists, fellow parents but really anyone that you can connect with around some commonality. In the hackathon, we formed groups organically through talking to each other and whiteboards. I recommend working with children because they have built in energy and are usually psyched for any computer activity. You can surf their enthusiasm and lack of overthinking. I recommend working with teachers and librarians because they are helpful and want you to succeed by design. You will grow in the beam of their positivity and encouragement. Take a class thereby hiring someone to kickstart these things and make you think you have to. You may have to start a Code Club or Meetup. You may have to broadcast your intentions either by typing or talking. Describe your project to someone who knows a lot. They can show you which tutorials or python library to start with. And with that:
4. Repeat
I want to thank the Raspberry Pi Foundation, The Computer History Museum and staff, all the wonderful teachers(Matt, Marc, Carrie Anne, James, Ben, David, Philip, Courtney) my fellow Raspberry Pi Certified Educators — USA Cohort 1, and Kenton County Public Library for this opportunity and the hardware including the Raspberry Pi 3. To those reading who would like to work together — you can connect with me @anschoen, GitHub, Meetup (CincyPy/Maker).
