Buying for a class set of Arduinos, just like a class set of anything, it often a barely 
surmountable challenge. You must worry about storage, limited budgets, purchase order complications, how many of which thing you need. If you aren’t a content expert you worry that it won’t work quite like you expect. You can’t focus on all the cool things you want to make, You have to worry about how to best meet standards and possibly defend your choices to whatever admin holds the keys to the budget castle.
You start looking at equipment lists and realize that these were designed to use the things already in someone’s workbench. If you starting buying components for these projects, you end up like me spending way to much and learning way to little. It is the easiest way I can imagine to get overwhelmed, frustrated, and burned out.
I suggest you follow a plan that was designed to use overlapping components until you get the fundamentals. At that point, pull back out all those cool projects on your list and go to town. Until that point you will end up wasting time and money that could have been spent getting skilled so you can accomplish the exciting projects you imagine.
So where are all those solutions you keep mentioning Mr. CSed?
I don’t claim to have all of the solutions… but I just might have a few. I personally suggest
starting with a digital simulation to make sure that this is something that not only you, but your kids, can handle. Arduinos are super powerful tools, but some would rather focus purely on code and not worry about resistors and diodes and the like.
I personally feel like you are going to realize eventually that you are missing out on a powerful tool for engagement, but I am only one voice. Luckily our friends at Autodesk have updated the ever popular TinkerCad to include Circuit Design and Arduino simulation in a hybrid IDE (see our “What in the IDE is an IDE” guide if that term is new).
In this code editor you can simulate a digital Arduino Uno with 100s of components in a Black-based language while you build familiarity, all the while the tool generates text that can be copied into the Arduino IDE. Then you click the block button twice and switch to text editor mode to continue modifying your simulation.
If you like this tool, please feel free to check out Ryan Jenkins at the Wonderful Idea Co. or at @ryanejenkins on twitter. He showed me all about this and a few other goodies that I can share later.
But…. I am sure I want a class set of Arduinos. I am “Ready-Enough!”
OK, Mr. or Ms. Bossypants, I appreciate that you know what you want. I will share with you what I know. I know that you don’t want to waste money. I know that you don’t want to waste your precious storage space on things that go unused. Most importantly, you want the best price you can get. You are in luck, I just took the kit that I had been using with a few students and ordered a full set for 30 students. I will share with you the most important things to decide. Answer a few questions, and I will help you make your choices. I have even considered doing a giant order straight from the source (China for most parts)… If there is much interest I will look into it. If you are interested please fill out this form .
I want the cheapest I can get, am Tech Savvy (or good with following directions), and have admin rights or the support from my tech dept.
You want an Arduino clone with a CH340G Chipset. You are fine buying any option labeled Arduino. They are open source hardware… so everyone can make them basically exactly the same with no license. The analogy are generic drugs. Scroll down to the list below to see my recommended components to go with.
I want the Best of the Best, Cream of the Crop… Money is no object.
OK, But be careful what you wish for. For this price you get made in Italy, not made in China. You get better quality lettering on the board. The satisfaction that you got the very best… And I think that is about it. Oh, and a pretty impressive price tag. It is a really amazing kit… for $2,000.00 … I personally would choose to get a set for every pair of kids in all of my classes for that price. No one would ever have to take anything apart when they are done. But you said money was no object.
I want something in between. I need ease of use and my wallet isn’t full of gold.
You have one last choice to make. Do you also want your Arduinos to double as something very much like a MaKey-Makey?
If so, These Arduino Micro Clones can act almost just like a MaKey-MaKey with a few additional resistors and an Arduino Sketch(if sketch is a new word, see our “what in the IDE is an IDE” guide).
If not, I trust Elegoo for their Uno Clone and everyone I have talked to seems to agree.
But what about all the other “STUFF” we need?
If you are following along as I post the “What the Heck is an Arduino anyway” guide, I will share with you my recommended class set Version Beta 0.5. It is a part of The Computer Science Educator Class Set Bundle. If there is interest in me bundling these things into a kit organized with storage then complete this form . Based on estimations, If at least 5 classes are interested I can order in Bulk from Chinese distributors to get the price down to $350 sorted into kits. If there is enough interest, I will start contacting distributors.
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