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Think globally, build locally: a technological platform for low-cost, open-source, locally-assembled programmable bricks for education

Published: 24 January 2010 Publication History

Abstract

"Programmable bricks" are microcontroller-based devices that can be used in various educational projects, such as robotic prototypes, environmental sensing, and interactive art. They have been used in educational settings for many years, but particularly in developing countries their penetration has been limited due either to unavailability or prohibitive cost. In this paper, we discuss recent work on the GoGo Board, an open-source, extensible, low-cost programmable brick mainly designed for developing countries. We discuss the board's main design principles, which were based on our extensive fieldwork, as well as implication for learning activities, the use of low-cost materials, and local construction of boards. We use data and observations from studies in several countries such as Brazil, Mexico, and Thailand.

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Sargent, R. (1995). The Programmable LEGO Brick: Ubiquitous Computing for Kids. Cambridge, MA: Media Laboratory Master's Thesis, MIT.
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  • (2019)Programs in the Palm of your HandProceedings of the 18th ACM International Conference on Interaction Design and Children10.1145/3311927.3323138(227-236)Online publication date: 12-Jun-2019
  • (2017)'Maker' within ConstraintsProceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3025453.3025849(96-108)Online publication date: 2-May-2017
  • (2015)Computationally Enhanced Toolkits for ChildrenFoundations and Trends in Human-Computer Interaction10.1561/11000000579:1(1-68)Online publication date: 1-Dec-2015
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  1. Think globally, build locally: a technological platform for low-cost, open-source, locally-assembled programmable bricks for education

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    cover image ACM Conferences
    TEI '10: Proceedings of the fourth international conference on Tangible, embedded, and embodied interaction
    January 2010
    414 pages
    ISBN:9781605588414
    DOI:10.1145/1709886
    Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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    Publication History

    Published: 24 January 2010

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    Author Tags

    1. appropriate technologies
    2. construction kits
    3. constructionism
    4. educational robotics
    5. open-source
    6. probeware

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    Cited By

    View all
    • (2019)Programs in the Palm of your HandProceedings of the 18th ACM International Conference on Interaction Design and Children10.1145/3311927.3323138(227-236)Online publication date: 12-Jun-2019
    • (2017)'Maker' within ConstraintsProceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3025453.3025849(96-108)Online publication date: 2-May-2017
    • (2015)Computationally Enhanced Toolkits for ChildrenFoundations and Trends in Human-Computer Interaction10.1561/11000000579:1(1-68)Online publication date: 1-Dec-2015
    • (2015)Comparing Virtual and Physical Robotics Environments for Supporting Complex Systems and Computational ThinkingJournal of Science Education and Technology10.1007/s10956-015-9552-x24:5(628-647)Online publication date: 7-Mar-2015
    • (2013)The makers' movement and FabLabs in educationProceedings of the 12th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children10.1145/2485760.2485884(613-616)Online publication date: 24-Jun-2013
    • (2013)Gears of our childhoodProceedings of the 12th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children10.1145/2485760.2485786(173-182)Online publication date: 24-Jun-2013
    • (2011)QWERTY and the art of designing microcontrollers for childrenProceedings of the 10th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children10.1145/1999030.1999070(234-237)Online publication date: 20-Jun-2011

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