OLED Display Hello World #4675

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#1

This is a discussion for the OLED Display Hello World #4675. Feel free to connect with the Learning Team here, or to discuss experiment tips, ask questions, leave comments or suggest experiment variations here.

#2

The kids loved this because they felt real success when they could manipulate the code to say THEIR words! They especially loved seeing THEIR NAME on the screen and thought it was rad. As a math teacher, I could see them using this to reveal an answer to a problem (anything to change up the same old, same old brings new enthusiasm). Code breaking with a cipher could be neat, too. As the teacher, it is great to be their to guide them and really allow them to figure out how to be successful and how to use this in a real situation. They were already curious what the code must look like for stadium signs and such which I thought was a wonderful connection. It would be neat to also see them play a “password” type game where they may communicate a word with the screen and one team could use ways to get the other team to guess the password. Plug that into any vocabulary review or literary study/review and you have instant buy in, motivation, engagement, and excitment. I could keep going, but it’s safe to say, we loved this activity and will be utilizing it again!

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#3

Thank you so much for your comments Becky! Excellent new curriculum suggestions!

#4

Hi everyone!!

This is a really cool activity for initial exploration.

  1. Where does this lesson fit in with your curriculum (if the lesson is not a fit for the class you teach, how could the lesson be modified so that it is applicable to your curriculum)?

This is a great way to start any code-based STEM course, because the students gain a good sense of confidence in how they can manipulate the outcome of a program, and it is fun. This fits any curriculum, and should be included as part of the first unit.

  1. Which part or parts of the lesson would your students need extra support in order to be successful?

I believe high school students can handle this experiment easily as the commands are very intuitive, but I think they might need help on how to setup the code, if they were to write it entirely on their own.

  1. If you were to teach this lesson to your class, describe your role during the class. What does a successful teacher actively do during this lesson?

I would facilitate this activity, without giving them a step-by-step walk-through. I teach high school students, and I’d like to let them tinker with the code and make changes to different variables to see what happens. Then, I’d have them discuss their experience and share ideas.

  1. If you were to teach this lesson to your class, describe your student’s role during the class. What does “student success” look like?

Student success here would be to have them navigate through the code independently and figure out how they could apply the sketch to an actual electronic device.

Thanks,
Gianluca

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#5

Becky,

I love your idea of a password game. Also, I agree that they would like to see their names, and changing variables based on coordinates is a great idea for a Math/Science activity.

Thanks,
Gianluca

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#6

This can be used in many different ways. Interactive vocab review games, creating a scavenger hunt, it could even be used as scientific method assignment.

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#7

Where does this lesson fit in with your curriculum (if the lesson is not a fit for the class you teach, how could the lesson be modified so that it is applicable to your curriculum)? I have found that many of my students are interested in instant gratification. As a result, they often do not put in the required time to plan. This lessen helps to demonstrate the need to invest time in planning rather than just jumping in a “doing.” While programming is not explicitly a part of my science curriculum, learning planning skills is important for developing experimental procedures.

Which part or parts of the lesson would your students need extra support in order to be successful? Some students still find the concept of coordinates challenging. Extra practice in this area would be needed.

If you were to teach this lesson to your class, describe your role during the class. What does a successful teacher actively do during this lesson? While some students will be able to work independently on this lesson, others will require more hand-holding. For those students, the teacher should walk through the steps one at a time and circulate around the class to monitor progress.

If you were to teach this lesson to your class, describe your student’s role during the class. What does “student success” look like? Students develop deeper and longer lasting understanding when they have the opportunity to experience what they are learning. Students should be given the opportunity to make mistakes and learn from them. Their success would be determined by their ability to produce the the tasks included in the lesson.

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#8

I fully subscribe to the belief that students learn more from tinkering, making mistakes, and problem solving their solutions. The art is to find a way where students can make mistakes and try to trouble shoot them without getting frustrated. Based on your post, I was thinking that one way to scaffold this assignment would to offer the preliminary code with different amounts of the code prewritten.

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#9

I love this idea Eric! Thank you for sharing!

#10

I agree. This is a great starting point for the students to begin making connections to everyday robotics and the activities and lessons in class! Great connections can be made making the learning more authentic and engaging.

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#11

I teach math, but I dabble in science projects in order to make the math come more alive (personally, I think math alone is awesome, but the students seem to think otherwise.) This project is perfect for the upcoming summer program we have planned - sending a weather balloon to space.
My students would need to be supported throughout the project. I am introducing them to the programming now, but the science behind the sensors would need to be reviewed.
I would like to have my students explore the sensors, and decide which sensors would be the best for space exploration. I will have to be more hands-on than I would like, but my student population is resistant to curiosity. My students will be the ones doing the programming (with the least amount of help I can give while they are still successful) Success looks like questions being asked, friendly arguments about results being debated, and smiles.

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#12

Would you keep your students off the internet or would you let them find the codes online? A lot of the programming courses I have found have all the answers online, and the students have very little thinking to do. This frustrates me quite a bit.

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#13

I loved this! writing your own message was a blast. I teach enviromental science. I could have my students write slogans for envirometal protection. Some catch phrase and it would have them incorporate STEM into an environmental lesson. STEM is going to be the future of both school and the workforce. I want all of my students to feel comfortable dealing with a STEM activity. I would heve students share their slogans with other groups. They would learn an enviromental issue and coding. Anytime I can include tech into my lessons I take the option.

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#14

Our school has sent up a balloon into the atmosphere. We do it every year but this year the balloon was lost as it escaped before the retrievel sensor could be hooked up. Our school’s robotics club programs our balloon retrievel device. I am excited to take this course because to me coding is a mysterious thing. The students pick it up much quicker tham I can. Good luck on your project. And math rocks!

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#15

I really liked this lesson and I immediately thought that this would be great as part of a breakout game. They would have to “center” a certain word and use the number values to open a lock!

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#16

I would be available to answer questions and guide students toward their goals. Success for students would be for them to be frustrated at times but curious enough ton stay motivated to continue.

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#17

I love this idea, thanks for sharing!

#18

I like this lesson as an introduction to what code can do and how things that we see every day around us work.

I feel that my students would need an introduction to what code is, the basics of how it works, and also an intro into how the electronic parts go together and work.

If I taught this lesson to my class, My role would be that of a facilitator, giving suggestions but not the “answers.”

My students role would be that of explorers, and success would look different for different students. Just learning how it works and being able to do the basic functions would be success for some, going above and beyond and trying new functions would be considered success for others. Overall, I would feel the lesson was successful if I saw students thinking and talking about “what would happen if…” and applying this by making connections to things they have seen in the real world.

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#19

I love that real world connection to the stadium sign, and also the idea of using this to make a game.

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#20
  1. Where does this lesson fit in with your curriculum (if the lesson is not a fit for the class you teach, how could the lesson be modified so that it is applicable to your curriculum)?
    Since I teach math I automatically saw that this lesson is a great lesson for graphing when working in the coordinate plane finding midpoints. Students need to use two points to determine where to position their name to make it appear in the middle of the screen. Also finding the midpoint will help them in starting to determine where to position their name to get it in the middle of the screen.
  2. Which part or parts of the lesson would your students need extra support in order to be successful?
    Students may get confused when trying to change different commands in the code or they may be afraid of making a mistake and ruining the code. They need to be reassured that it is ok to make a mistake and that they can fix the program just by refreshing the screen and if necessary even reprogram their Arduino.
  3. If you were to teach this lesson to your class, describe your role during the class. What does a successful teacher actively do during this lesson?
    As a teacher I should mostly be there for support and reassurance. I should just be circulating around the room and making myself available for questions and assistance as needed. I could also be asking thought provoking questions like what they think might happen if they….
  4. If you were to teach this lesson to your class, describe your student’s role during the class. What does “student success” look like?
    By having fun while learning independently.
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