SiFive Helping To Teach Kids Programming With RISC-V HiFive Inventor Coding Kit

[phoronix]

Phoronix: SiFive Helping To Teach Kids Programming With RISC-V HiFive Inventor Coding Kit

SiFive in cooperation with Tynker and BBC Learning have launched a Doctor Who themed HiFive Inventor Coding Kit. This Initial HiFive Inventor Coding Kit is intended to help kids as young as seven years of age get involved with computer programming through a variety of fun exercises and challenges involving the RISC-V powered mini computer and related peripherals like LED lighting and speaker control.

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=29864

[gabber]

Season 12 had a 12 % audience score, should have picked an earlier installment (69% for season 10)
Let's hope the kids did not watch the recent Dr get to coding!

[tildearrow]

Reminds me of Family BASIC, released back in 1984 for the Japanese...

[Viki Ai]

Season 12 had a 12 % audience score, should have picked an earlier installment (69% for season 10)
Let's hope the kids did not watch the recent Dr get to coding!

I watched "Revolution of the Daleks" the other week because I grew up on Dr. Who and it happened to be on when I was staying with a relative who is old and archaic enough to have a TV . My gawd it was tired, slow, tedious and hackneyed! How many times are the 'writers' going to recycle the exact same Dalek plot, worse each time than the last? And this was a 'special', supposedly a showcase of the series as it stands today! I can spoil the entire plot, in detail, in 4 words!

[SteamPunker]

I love this. Getting kids to code and tinker at a young age is a valuable thing in itself. But it's also great to see the RISC-V architecture beng used for something practical.

[microcode]

Season 12 had a 12 % audience score, should have picked an earlier installment (69% for season 10)
Let's hope the kids did not watch the recent Dr get to coding!

Yeah, woke BBC is ashamed to know in their hearts that men and boys like engineering more on average lol; as they stand you can be 99% sure they primarily considered this because it was an opportunity to shove this doctor down your throats.

They should be ashamed, pulling this "Ms. Doctor" shortcut instead of writing an actual good character that just happens to be a chick this time.

Nonetheless it seems like a fun little kit, hopefully gets the young ones thinking... though I'm not sure how well it will, it's not the '80s anymore, and most middle class people own dozens of wee little computers; if the family has a car, it has at least a couple dozen of its own, and I doubt much wonder is felt anymore about computers.

[Quackdoc]

Its nice to see risc-v make its way into our homes more, Just need a viable cheap raspberry pi alternative now

[ThoreauHD]

This is awesome. We took this for granted growing up during the computer boom. Now kids just know how to install an app. Great way for them to work under the hood.

[wizard69]

I watched "Revolution of the Daleks" the other week because I grew up on Dr. Who and it happened to be on when I was staying with a relative who is old and archaic enough to have a TV . My gawd it was tired, slow, tedious and hackneyed! How many times are the 'writers' going to recycle the exact same Dalek plot, worse each time than the last? And this was a 'special', supposedly a showcase of the series as it stands today! I can spoil the entire plot, in detail, in 4 words!

I gave up on doctor Who more than a decade ago. I started watching it in my late teens/20's and I'm 60 now, nothing produced recently has impressed me. The show was far more creative when the props where made out of plumbing.


As for this RISC-V program, I'm really not a fan of shoving technology down the throats of kids that have years to go before they are even teenagers. I'm not sure what the right age is, it probably depends upon the kid. However I do believe that they need to be old enough to have developed a personal interest. Setting up an environment for that is the challenge.

[wizard69]

This is awesome. We took this for granted growing up during the computer boom. Now kids just know how to install an app. Great way for them to work under the hood.

Yes if they have the interest and ability to pursue such. I'm just not getting why anybody would be targeting a 7 year old with this. I know back in my day the interest developed without a lot of input from others. For me it was an off shoot of an interest in electronics which by the way gets you well under the hood.