Programming Tools within Reach for People of all Ages

Raspberry+Pi%2C+model+3+from+Adafruit.com

Raspberry Pi, model 3 from Adafruit.com

   Technology is always expanding, but it’s generally costy, with a laptop costing around two-hundred dollars on average. But there has been a rise in new technology that is affordable and might allow it to expand into the hands the younger generation.

  “A Raspberry Pi is a small Motherboard, or computer, that can be used for all sorts of versatile functions and comes with built in wifi and bluetooth. You can turn it into something like a handheld gaming console, a very small laptop, just use it for programming, and lots of other options,” Freshman Jonathan Skinner said.

  Right now Raspberry Pi’s are able to be bought for a very cheap and affordable price, costing you nothing more than the same price as a medium sized lego set. These low prices allow even kids to sometimes afford to buy these devices and start learning to program and code.

  “They cost $30 generally, and beyond that you can buy a kit with your Pi that includes an HDMI cable, a case for the Pi, a set of heat sinks, and a 32GB SD card. That all costs $60, pretty affordable for what you can do with it. If you do get the kit then all you really need to do is hook it up to a monitor,” Skinner said.

  Programming and using these devices, however, isn’t exactly something you can pick up and learn in seconds. To use them to their full potential, learning about coding and programming languages should most likely be a top priority.

“I took computer programming last semester, and then this semester I’m taking computer architecture. Computer programming obviously teachers you how to code, and program on a computer, and right now in computer architecture we’re using Raspberry Pi’s,” Skinner said.