If you are on the outside looking at the buzz surrounding the Arduino and want in, how do you get started? In this column, I cherry pick a few of the best resources for you. I increase the signal to noise ratio.
- If you do a google search on Arduino, you get 100 Million hits.
- If you do a google search on Arduino tutorial, you get 4 Million hits.
- If you do a google search on Arduino tutorial getting started, you get more than 1 Million hits.
This is way too many to search through. Just start browsing through any of these lists and you are quickly overwhelmed. There is just too much information and the signal to noise ratio is notoriously low. How do you find those one or two nuggets hidden among the mounds of rocks? Where do you get started?
You can read the hype about different resources, each declaring they are the best way of getting started with Arduinos. You can’t really judge the value of a getting started guide by its price. Some classes or books range as high as $200, but many are free. And I think the best ones are free or nearly free.
How do you avoid wasting a lot of time and money on paths that not only won’t pan out, but will leave you frustrated and irritated?
That’s where a curator comes in. Like an editor of a magazine, newspaper or anthology, a curator will search through the mound of resources out there and, using their judgement, cherry-pick the best ones.
The role of a curator is to select and identify the resources that have the highest value.
As a professional educator, I consider myself an expert curator of educational and training content. With this perspective, here are my recommendations for the best getting started guides that are free or nearly free.
If you want to get started with the Arduino, or establish a firm foundation, start with these:
Sparkfun is my goto starting place for all things maker electronics. Here are two of their tutorials to start with:
Sparkfun is always a great starting place. Here is there review of all Arduinos: What is an Arduino
Here is their getting started guide: How to get started working with the Arduino
The Arduino.cc organization is a great resource. Here is a portal to a wealth of Arduino education content to get started and accelerate up the learning curve.
Ada Fruit is always a great resource for parts, projects and ideas. Here is their getting started section.
These will give you a great start and wont; waste your time.
What do you think?
