Make no mistake the Kano is not some terribly origianl or clever idea! People have been homebrewing great lessons on the Raspberry Pi and making kits that bring everything you need to play it. I started doing it in July 2012 by putting together a kit to show everyone and Alan O'Donohoe has been touring the country with his Raspberry Jams to put together kits in a very Blue Peter kind of way with a few bits of sticky back plastic.However Kano is the first company to try to bring all the bits and pieces that you need in one clean package with software and a learning scaffolding. In effect it's taken all the great ideas that people have seen in Raspberry Jams and put them into a single package. A very effective way to create a wonderful teaching tool. That is why I am so very glad that they are getting funding through Kickstarter and I know I will be keen to buy a few packs as soon as they become available!
Well Done to Kano for professionalising the Pi and bringing it back to its found principles of trying to encourage electronics and computer engineering in schools!
If you want to support the project, please visit their Kickstarter page:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/alexklein/kano-a-computer-anyone-can-make
Now all I have to do, is make my own kit for Thailand.... Oh well!
