It’s estimated that in the next decade 77 percent of jobs will be in technology, while creativity is ranked among the top three skills the World Economic Forum predicts employers will be looking for in candidates. This presents today’s educators and parents with a unique challenge – and opportunity – to help prepare kids today for the digital future and inspire their creativity. And as Microsoft Innovative Educator Pip Cleaves reminds us, one of the most effective and fun ways to teach creativity in the classroom is with coding.
That’s why we’re excited to announce today that we’re joining Cartoon Network and Adafruit to create a set of projects and tutorials to inspire young people to code, create and construct. With fun, whimsical DIY creations such as an electronic crown, a glow-in-the-dark room sign or a paper cup lamp, students can use the Adafruit Circuit Playground Express micro-controller device, Microsoft’s MakeCode coding environment, and Cartoon Network’s most loved characters to learn the basics of coding and let their imagination go wild.
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, or even use Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for MakeCode, CircuitPython, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell with Google Hangouts On-Air is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
MATHEMATICAL!