Raspberry Pi

After my presentation about implementing computer science courses in high schools, someone mentioned the Raspberry Pi and I decided to do some research on it. The Raspberry Pi is a credit card sized computer that plugs into your TV and keyboard. It is a mini PC that works just like a regular PC and also plays high definition video. The best part about this computer, however, is the price. The Raspberry Pi comes in two models; Model A is priced at $25 and Model B is priced at $35. The difference between the models is that Model A has 256MB RAM, one USB port and no Ethernet, while Model B has 512MB RAM, 2 USB port and an Ethernet port. This device was created with the intention of allowing school children the opportunity to learn computer programming at an affordable rate. This works perfectly with the idea of my technical report because we want everyone to have the chance to learn about computer science. By purchasing Raspberry Pi computers along with their external accessories, schools would save much more money than they would if they bought regular computers for their students. This is a major plus for schools in every financial situation.
What I like the most about this device is that the company that created it is focused solely on the educational aspect. The company is currently in the process of creating educational material that will further aid students in learning how to program. In their website, Raspberry Pi states, “We’re working with partners to get software materials developed, as well as with the open source community. Computing at School are writing a user guide and programming manual, we’re aware of a few books being planned and written around the Raspberry Pi, and others have already started to produce some excellent tutorials including video. We’re also working with partners to use it as a teaching platform for other subjects, including languages, maths and so on. Once we launch, we hope that the community will help bodies like Computing at School put together teaching material such as lesson plans and resources and push this into schools. In due course, the foundation hopes to provide a system of prizes to give young people something to work towards.”
I hope to include the Raspberry Pi in my report because it is a cost effective way to get students to learn how to program and provides another reason as to why students should be able to learn about computer science while they’re in high school. It would be very effective if all high schools that could not afford full computers for their students to own Raspberry Pis so that they would have the opportunity to learn how to program and have this greatly necessary skill before they enter college.