Age of children in NZ doing picaxe projects

[kranenborg]

Hello,

I am currently trying to introduce my eldest son's school to the PICAXE (he is 14, soon 15, we live in Sweden). In fact I will give an introductory presentation and demonstration tomorrow to a number of teachers.

I am aware of (and inspired by) Andrew Hornblow's excellent work with schools in New Zealand, in particular shown on his sites:

http://picasaweb.google.com/picaxe
http://www.brightsparks.org.nz/MentorFTP//PICAXE-08/www_help/Index.htm

It appears to me that these children are of age of about 12 - 13, and that they already had some basic electronics knowledge beforehand through some courses.

Could some Kiwis comment on my observations (Manuka for example, or maybe Andrew himself)? I want to use that information in order to persuade the school (i.e. that they should not be afraid that the material is too complex for children of this age)

PS: I have a low forum profile for the moment because of other duties, but that will change, of course ...

Thanks,
Jurjen

 

[manuka]

Happy to help! Although some NZ Intermediate & High Schools have "electronics" programs, it tends to be regional & (predictably) HUGELY influenced by teacher enthusiasm & school priorities. There's a general NZ cultural perception that electronic items are just "fun" rather than something serious as well. Hence I helped in 2007 with a 200 kid school cluster that assigned just US$2 per 10-11 yo. student TOTAL electronics budget - yet they had no qualms about $$($) per head on sport or $$$$($) sending a cultural group on a trip to Japan.

Andrew has indeed done sterling work in his rural home patch (Taranaki) with 10-11 yo. under a NZ Govt. program he works with, but my slant here in my Wellington region has been mostly with mid teens helping with a 2 year NCET (NZ Cert Electrotech.) program.

THOUGHT: Are you up with the "Snap Connector" approach I dreamed up however? These "Electronic Brain Box" kits are fun & kid proof in their own right & dirt cheap (~US$12 for the 80 experiment ones here in NZ). The PICAXE mod shows huge potential with this age group-it's due for a "Silicon Chip" airing in March 2009, but meanwhile see my Instructable => http://www.instructables.com/id/quotSnap_connectorquot_PICAXE_microcontroller/ Stan.

EXTRA: I'll send you the draft SiChip article .pdf ( ~ 600k) if you like - it features a 7 yo!

 

[kranenborg]

Thanks manuka!

Even younger than I thought then! Excellent that you also mentioned that Andrew got some money via a program, see whether we could organize something similar here. I would really appreciate the article, I will report back on my first experiences. I assume that it is extremely important to have a "problem owner" in (or related to) the school that really is interested in driving the idea.

Thanks!

Jurjen

 

[manuka]

Yes- school "problem owners" can be crucial in almost any field- drama, sport, "under water kick boxing" etc- & I've seen educational empires crumble when key motivators move on, or grudges develop due to poor admin. support ...

My draft "snap PICAXE" article has since been thru' several revisions, but feel free to use the initial attached .pdf - since greatly modified & tweaked. The associated Instructable - mentioned above-is perhaps much easier to access & follow.

Naturally the "snap" approach should appeal to Scandinavian LEGO users! Stan.