Learning to make with arduinos

The journey from learner to educator

In this episode of the podcast, I talk with local digital artist and educator Rachel Hooper about how she got started learning and teaching how to make stuff with arduinos. Hooper discussed her background in teaching both students and adults how to construct projects using the tiny microcontrollers, her journey from arduino-learner to educator, then schooled me on gender essentialism* in tech-based learning.

Did I mention we were locked in a bathroom at the Generator?

(Never let your travel microphones out of your sight, people. Never. Do it.)

Arduinos are tiny microcontrollers that can power a wide range of physical components. You can use them to control temperatures, turn lights on and off, power motors, play music or do just about anything you can imagine.

This past fall, I took Hooper’s introduction to arduino course through the Generator in downtown Burlington. And I figured that with the new libary-powered makerspace movement here in Vermont, it would be great to hear about how to get started with teaching and learning arduinos in school and out.

The background music in this episode is by Yelling at Cats. It’s called Not in the Background and is licensed via Creative Commons 3.0. Check out the past episodes of our podcast here, and you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or Soundcloud and never miss an episode again.

“I realized I could be all my nerds in one place.”

*Intersectional feminism, people. Learn it, live it, remember to say the correct word while being recorded.