About CrowdBot [Dec. 18, 2011, 10:13 p.m.]
So you want to learn about open hardware. But your Arduino is in the mail, or you can't get enough for your students, or the price tag makes you wary. I hear you. CrowdBot will be connected to an example project of the week. Send in your program online, and CrowdBot will automatically download and run it on the Arduino. Watch it on livestream or (work in progress) check our YouTube channel. We'll also send (or livestream) data output by your program.
CrowdBot is also the name for the Python scripts behind the scenes. I have open-sourced the project on GitHub ( https://github.com/mapmeld/CrowdBot ).
My hope is that this program will convince you (plus your local schools, libraries, and hackerspaces) to acquire Arduinos to hack with in person.