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> At the end of the four-day course, each student received a Raspberry Pi 400 So, the number of participants was limited to 5? I don't know, that sounds a bit

> At the end of the four-day course, each student received a Raspberry Pi 400 So, the number of participants was limited to 5? I don't know, that sounds a bit problematic. I would have opted for helping students set up a Python environment on their PCs or laptops (and maybe kept the RPi's to students who may not have one; although identifying students in this situation may be tricky)

noir_lord 5y ago
> I would have opted for helping students set up a Python environment on their PCs or laptops You assume that students have a PC or laptop particularly one they can do whatever they want on and that even if they do parents are happy with them installing development tooling on the laptop.
- einpoklum 5y ago
  1. If you'd read my comment all the way, you would notice that I don't assume they have a PC or laptop. 2. You mean their parents are Perl or Ruby fanatics and will not stand for Python being installed? ... Somehow I doubt that's an issue.
  - gambiting 5y ago
    2) Some people have work issued laptops and know nothing about computers. They might be working remotely for a call centre nowadays, very common - so no, you can't install any tools on those. And even if you could I know many parents who wouldn't let their children install anything on their work machines as if that stops working they will get in trouble at work.
matthewowen 5y ago
Well, why don't you go ahead and do it that way when you decide to run one of these courses?
1-6 5y ago
It seems like giving out RPi's seem like the perfect reward. It's tangible and it helps keep environments separate versus a Windows or Mac laptop. Kids can take risks on the RPi by breaking things which is a good learning technique.
- drewzero1 5y ago
  I do hope the kids can retain any enthusiasm for using the RPis after the course is over, otherwise it might just sit on their shelf doing nothing. That's a bit pessimistic, I guess, but I definitely went through seasons of ignoring tech toys I'd been so excited about initially. +1 for being able to break things, though. I know I'm way more likely to try risky (and educational!) maneuvers on a spare computer than the one I have to use for (home)work, assuming I even have one.

noir_lord 5y ago

> I would have opted for helping students set up a Python environment on their PCs or laptops You assume that students have a PC or laptop particularly one they can do whatever they want on and that even if they do parents are happy with them installing development tooling on the laptop.

einpoklum 5y ago
1. If you'd read my comment all the way, you would notice that I don't assume they have a PC or laptop. 2. You mean their parents are Perl or Ruby fanatics and will not stand for Python being installed? ... Somehow I doubt that's an issue.
- gambiting 5y ago
  2) Some people have work issued laptops and know nothing about computers. They might be working remotely for a call centre nowadays, very common - so no, you can't install any tools on those. And even if you could I know many parents who wouldn't let their children install anything on their work machines as if that stops working they will get in trouble at work.

matthewowen 5y ago

Well, why don't you go ahead and do it that way when you decide to run one of these courses?

1-6 5y ago

It seems like giving out RPi's seem like the perfect reward. It's tangible and it helps keep environments separate versus a Windows or Mac laptop. Kids can take risks on the RPi by breaking things which is a good learning technique.

drewzero1 5y ago
I do hope the kids can retain any enthusiasm for using the RPis after the course is over, otherwise it might just sit on their shelf doing nothing. That's a bit pessimistic, I guess, but I definitely went through seasons of ignoring tech toys I'd been so excited about initially. +1 for being able to break things, though. I know I'm way more likely to try risky (and educational!) maneuvers on a spare computer than the one I have to use for (home)work, assuming I even have one.