About
The Arduino Uno is a microcontroller board great for giving students an intro to higher level physical programming. Think flashing LEDs or DIY RC cars. While there's a huge amount of resources, libraries, and classroom support available online, there is no direct learning portal or official set of lesson plans so it requires a bit more know-how on the side of the instructor to teach effectively. Arduino is best suited to high school students.
By default Arduino's IDE only supports C++, but can be tinkered with to support other languages such as with ArduBlockly. Alternatively if you're unsure about Arduino, you can also simulate the boards online through TinkerCad.
Pros -
Great for more advanced students
High ceiling for creativity
The most beginner and classroom friendly microcontroller board out there
Many resources available online
Cons -
Setup can eat up a lot of time
No learning portal
Getting started
To get started with Arduino, check out the Forms section of this website so we can start shipping the Arduino Uno Student Kits out to your school. Alternatively if you're unsure but still interested, you can also simulate the boards online through TinkerCad and get a feel for things.
Here is a helpful getting started page for Arduino, a list of libraries, and here is the download link to their IDEs. If you'd prefer block code for your students, try Ardublockly.