Tech vs Art and Other Lessons from A Day of Coding with the Kid

When my nephew arrived this morning, I had no idea that we would spend the entire day coding. As a matter of fact, the original plan was simply to integrate Programmable LEDs into his art with my new Chibi Chip that I picked up at ISTE.

Unfortunately, my approach of just expecting him to “draw something that we can light up” was the worst possible start and in a perfectly deserved twist, it was also the most important lesson of the day.

Just to be clear, the header image above sparked the first of many creative disagreements today. This kid called me out on my purpose and man, did that sting call me to task!

Drawing something just to add lights was inauthentic to him but drawing something where lights made sense provided clarity.

I mean, it’s not about the “tech”, right?

Also, when that art is shared, the technologist in me was cool with positioning the jar of fairies so that the board was visible, in case anyone wanted to know.

To my nephew, positioning the jar so that the focus is on the art was the only way to share. If I didn’t make that shift with him, the day would’ve been done.

Lesson learned kid!

Tinkering with the Adafruit Circuit Playground Express and MakeCode

I knew that I would be leaving ISTE with the Chibi Chip from Chibitronics, but coming home with the Adafruit Circuit Playground Express was the best surprise ever. As a matter of fact, Braeden loved learning to code it but again, purpose played a role in that too.

I’ve been teaching kids to code long enough to know that you don’t just sit them down with a blank page and expect the code to just flow. That’s not how this works for most.

For us, it was about music. After coding several combinations of animated LEDS and music, we were finally ready to tackle more purposeful creating.

…a Maker Dare game that integrated more tech with analog creativity. (Based on one of the guided activities housed within MakeCode. If you’re not sure where to start, start there!)

We made a ton of weird things all day but through a simple coded spinner, we challenged ourselves more by creating in other ways, not always dependent on coding.

With that said, here are a few more lessons learned throughout the day…

• We loved the Adafruit micro-controller and the Chibi Chip but Braeden absolutely hated the Microbit. He was not a fan of its 5x5 grid of 25 LEDs…all red. He was unimpressed with its lack of sound as compared to the Circuit Playground Express…even with “headphone hacking”. He also felt that it limited his creativity and would’ve preferred a raspberry pi instead. (His personal observations)
• He loved the Circuit Playground Express but isn’t sure what he’ll do with it when I’m not around. Perhaps my lesson here is to make sure that he knows how to take pre-created ideas and be inspired by them…like our MakerDare game…and that he is equipped with tools to fully utilize the device’s capabilities.
• Play with unfamiliar code. We would’ve never known that we didn’t have to make complex circuits with the Chibi Chip if we didn’t explore how to turn any output into GND with a single line of code.
• Code for a reason, not just to code. (This is a no-brainer)
• The reset button exists for a reason and sometimes it’s the key to debugging what would otherwise be broken any other day!
• It’s ok for coding to be fun and not always about kids needing to learn for “future purposes”. They mostly hate that line and it’s unfair to mislead them in this way. With that said, every kid should have the opportunity to explore and learn. What they do with it should be a choice…a choice which is still largely not common aside from those with privilege.

Without me, my nephew wouldn’t have access to these tools. Perhaps we should figure out a solution to this super inequitable part.