Turing Tumble - anyone heard of it or used it?

C

Ceist Beag

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I came across this on Twitter. The website is https://www.turingtumble.com. I'd like to get the children interested in how computers work at a relatively early age, to remove some of the unknown about it. On the face of it, it looks very expensive for what appears to be a type of board game but the reviews on Amazon are very positive and the idea behind it is interesting. So just throwing this up here to see if anyone else heard of it.
 
I looked at it for my daughter a while back and decided to hold off until her 8th birthday mid next year. As you say it gets fantastic reviews but it is pricey.

But it appears to focus on the right things, and teach the fundamentals of patterns, logic and algorithms.

I have a raspberry pi and done some scratch programming with her on it. It was a bit too advanced for her, but she definitely learned about giving the computer an instruction and it carrying it out exactly as she had said. So if the instruction was poor, the execution was poor as well. She loved playing around with it and making it do different things. I imagine this would be no different - learn as much from the mistakes and when it goes well (much like real programming)

So simple answer is yes, I plan to purchase one next year and see how it goes
 
I've just ordered one for my two young nieces. @ €89 for the basic set, Mammy & Daddy have agreed they can share it for Christmas as their main present from me, also the God Father to one of them .

I'm impressed with it as it teaches (or seems to teach) how computers do what they do. Storage areas, inputs, logic gates, accumulators, output areas and so on, No coding or pseudo-code, just logic, pattern matching, and arithmetic, the concept of stored algorithms and useful sets of problems.
 
Thanks folks, I took the plunge and got one today, just under €84. I got a €5 discount code from them after enquiring if they did any Black Friday sale - they don't but it was worth asking! I'll report back next year once it has been used for a few months, hopefully it's as good as it sounds.
 
I will admit to almost buying one, but then the extra taxes all rolled-up and I got cold feet. Price rose from EUR66 to almost EUR90. But I would be curious to see how everyone else gets on .. .. .. if it proves to be of real educational, and lasting benefit then yes, I would reconsider.
 
No sign of mine yet but I took the plunge and bought (for €17) the virtual kit - 2 PDF files and a bunch of files to be sent to your 3D printer, the €70,000 device you just happen to have lying around!
 
I have to say it looks really clever. I've always reckoned that a thorough foundation in computing requires an understanding of how the most basic operations can be combined to yield higher level algorithms. This looks like a great way to do that without having to worry about electronics and logic circuits.

EDIT: I just ordered one for my god daughter. Yeah, it's pretty pricey at nearly 90 lids including VAT and shipping.
 
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Initial feedback about the one I gifted is that it's tougher than it looks and while the shiny bits generated some early excitement, once work and thought entered the picture, enthusiasm waned. That's OK, pretty much what I expected. There are lots of tiny bits and they are easily misplaced.
 
Thank you mathepac. I think my clann would use it sporadically , but the unreliable functionality of the Orange Crossover piece has put a severe damper on enthusiasm.

Would you mind asking if they have seen any issue with said piece.

We've contacted the vendor, but they have not replied so far.
Thank you,
Fidel
 
No specific information on individual pieces from my nieces but the forums would indicate that there are still bugs in the machine.
 
fidelcastro said:
but the unreliable functionality of the Orange Crossover piece has put a severe damper on enthusiasm.
Click to expand...

I purchased it (on the back of this post) for my son. He hasn't used it as much as I had hoped. I didn't notice an issue with the crossover piece, but over the next few nights I'll have a play around with it to see.

My initial thoughts are that it is flimsy - the plastic is quite thin and although sits up ok, it's not the most sturdy when actual using it. I would have expected something more "upmarket", especially for the price that was charged. At the stage, I've only dabbled in it - but will take it out for more use!

fidelcastro said:
We've contacted the vendor, but they have not replied so far.
Click to expand...

I did get an email from the supplier looking for feedback - I didn't reply as of yet as it wasn't used that much. Fidel - did you get such an email?
 
Hi Jazz, (and mathepac).

appreciate if you could try out the cross-over, I joined "Turing Table Community" and have received two comments:

Person 1.
We have the exact same problem (these pieces are not working as intended most of the time) and I am planning to contact the vendor as well. Very frustrating for me and my daughter.

Person2.
Hi All
Christmas present well received, the children have made a good start in understanding the world of computers.
One problem seems to be the reliability and replication of outcomes. For example the cross-overs seem to vary in consistent results bordering on random. The board appears not to be deformed, on a level surface and mounted in the bracket correctly
What are we doing wrong?"

Mrs Castro gave feedback to "hello@turingtumble.com" asking for refund or if they knew of faulty crossovers.
Today received she got a message to the effect that they will send for free (normally cost is USD$9.95), a pack containing extra ramps,bits,crossovers etc, but they are out-of-stock until mid-March.

I wonder has anyone returned the whole game and received a refund?, the puzzle is expensive and quality is not robust, but the game-idea is a good one.
 
As with Jazz, we have not used it extensively just yet (up to puzzle 23 (out of 60) with our eldest). So far I would tend to agree that the bits are a little bit fiddly and inconsistent. For example some of the green bits get stuck from time to time so the ball doesn't drop. Also, sometimes the ball "jumps" over the paddle it's supposed to drop down, resulting in it releasing the wrong colour ball. We haven't noticed any issues with the crossover piece though - it has worked fine for us.
One suggestion I sent them was that it would have been very simple to include a collection tray around the base of the unit as those little balls can be quite hard to find once they fall on the floor!
All that said it is a very innovative game and although it is quite expensive, I still feel it was a good purchase. I can see it proving a good challenge once we get into the second half of the puzzles and there appears to be a further selection of puzzles available online so hopefully it's something we can keep coming back to over time.
 
gnf_ireland said:
@mathepac would love to know what you think of them after they have played with them for a while !
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I had a video message from Mammy today showing my older niece engrossed in the Turing machine. She hasn't encountered too many bugs as far as I can establish, but get this! I am a hero with 20/20 foresight as during lock-down / no schools there'd have been wigs on the green without the Turing Tumble! Dedicated little lady and as stubborn as the presence of mathepac-related genes might suggest. Banking quite a few brownie points, unusually for me.
 
Where did you get the Turing machine.
 
Well done on the brownie points These are extra-ordinary times and anything that keeps kids busy in an educational manner can only be good.

I have started to do a raspberry pi scratch session with my daughter once a week. We pick 3 'sprites' and she has to come up with a story, write it down and then we build the story together in scratch code. She absolutely loves it, but I am more interested in her creative writing skills !!
 
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