Changes to the Plan
The first and most disappointing finding was that Bluetooth Low Energy Beacons (iBeacons) are not ready for prime time. There is poor integration between the beacons of various vendors of software and hardware. The software tools available (SDK) are crude and difficult to use. Support comes mainly from iOS vendors and that leaves out most end users. So no beacon based games. We will use QR Codes instead.
While augmented reality is cool that too is several years away from being an element in the design of games unless you have major programing chops. The few apps available by commercial vendors seem to be pretty good by not appropriate for early learners.
Changes to Hardware
The Primo programing tool/toy is very cool but unfortunately wasn’t available in time for the camp. Ditto Bo and Yana, WowWee MiP and Moss Robotics. The good news is that Romo is a real hit and Mindstorms EV3 is very cool. More on these in the next post.
Playground Guru 