Sydney, Australia
I'm Ben Jones — Head Teacher Technologies at Tempe High School and publisher of VS Code extensions that connect GitHub Codespaces to real hardware. I design open-source courseware, robotics platforms and secure-by-design software templates used by students and teachers across NSW.
Published on the Visual Studio Marketplace under the publisher ID
benpaddlejones.
Both extensions solve the same classroom problem: students working in browser-based
GitHub Codespaces can't normally reach a microcontroller plugged into their laptop.
These bridges close that gap with the Web Serial API.
Full MicroPython development for Raspberry Pi Pico and ESP32 from any browser or
desktop VS Code — with a built-in device emulator, debugpy step
debugging, and a Web Serial bridge for flashing and REPL access on physical boards.
Compile Arduino sketches in a GitHub Codespace and upload them straight to a physical board over the Web Serial API — no local toolchain install, which means a whole class can be flashing boards within minutes on locked-down school devices.
Most of my work ships through the TempeHS organisation — 187 public repositories of courseware, templates and tooling that run an entire school's software engineering program.
A bespoke learning platform for the NSW HSC Software Engineering course, designed and built solo: every past HSC question with marking criteria, hundreds of in-browser Python, SQL and pseudocode challenges graded client-side with Pyodide and AlaSQL, NESA-specific validators for structure charts, DFDs and pseudocode, a circuit-diagram tool with current-flow validation and auto-generated BOMs, plus PvP flipcards. Server-rendered Flask with PostgreSQL, Redis, GitHub OAuth, CodeQL/Bandit scanning and full CI/CD.
A deliberately vulnerable Flask PWA that students attack, audit and harden — the centrepiece of the secure software architecture program and statewide teacher workshops. Paired with the Secure Architecture Sandbox: a Docker environment preloaded with SAST, DAST and penetration-testing tools that produce education-friendly reports, and the Secure-by-Design Flask PWA Template students refactor towards.
A low-cost RP2040 differential-drive robot with progressive challenges, a browser-based simulator, custom firmware tooling and classroom-ready documentation — in both Arduino C++ and MicroPython editions.
Jupyter-notebook collections covering ML algorithms, OOP model implementation and a practical MLOps workflow aligned to the NESA Software Engineering syllabus — students train models and ship them as PWAs or API services.
Production-quality Flask and Node.js PWA templates and guided build tasks — W3C-compliant, secure by default, and the backbone of the school's Programming for the Web unit.
A fleet of DevContainer templates — Python, Flask, Unity, Arduino, MicroPython, Jupyter, PyGame, even a locked-down examination environment — giving every student an identical, reproducible toolchain in GitHub Codespaces.
Hand-rolled MicroPython drivers for Grove hardware: the LSM6DS3 6-axis IMU (accelerometer + gyroscope over I²C) and the Ultrasonic Ranger single-pin SIG protocol.
A browser-based Arduino uploader built on the Web Serial API — the proving ground for the bridge extensions — plus a plug-and-play Raspberry Pi HDMI/AV tester image for troubleshooting displays.
At Tempe High School I lead a technology program that takes students from first web pages in Year 7 to HSC Software Engineering majors: MLOps pipelines deployed as web apps, games tested on Xbox development kits, and biomedical mechatronic devices prototyped in C++ for real patient briefs.
Before returning to the classroom I led professional learning for the $28 million Digital Education Revolution initiative and designed the PLANE online professional learning project for NSW teachers. I now run hands-on workshops for teachers across the state on secure software architecture and programming for the web, including for ICTENSW.
"Open-ended projects are essential for engagement and differentiation — low floor, high ceiling. Use industry-standard software and hardware. AI is part of our process: students are taught how to use it in the realisation of their projects."
— from my feature in Preparing our students for future technological careers, NSW Department of Education
I started my career as a Physical Education teacher and followed a passion for technology into educational innovation, systems leadership and, eventually, software engineering. That unusual path shapes everything I build: tools have to work for real people in real rooms, on locked-down devices, with zero setup budget.
These days I write Python, MicroPython, C++, C# and JavaScript; build with Flask, Node.js, Unity and scikit-learn; and spend a lot of time making GitHub Codespaces, DevContainers and physical hardware play nicely together.