The aim is also to encourage teachers to discuss the technology, and coding in particular, in the classroom. For this, element14 is asking educators to register on their community portal and to upload their plan to describe how they intend to use the BBC micro:bit in the educational facility. element14 is a distributor of technology products and solutions for electronic system design, maintenance and repair.
The BBC Micro Bit (‘micro:bit’) is an open source hardware ARM (advanced RISC machine)-based embedded system designed by the British broadcaster, the BBC, for use in computer education in the U.K. The scheme was first announced with the BBC’s Make It Digital campaign on March 12, 2015.
The device is around half the size of a credit card and it comes with an ARM Cortex-M0 processor, plus an accelerometer together with magnetometer sensors. Also in-built are Bluetooth and USB connectivity, plus a display composed of 25 LEDs with two programmable buttons. The devices are powered by USB or, alternatively, from an external battery pack.
According to Sinead Rocks, Head of BBC Learning: “The BBC micro:bit is all about young people learning to express themselves digitally, and it’s their device to own.”
She adds: “It’s our most ambitious education initiative for 30 years. And as the micro:bit is able to connect to everything from mobile phones to plant pots and Raspberry Pis, this could be for the internet-of-things what the BBC Micro was to the British gaming industry.”
Once educators who are interested have described how they would use the device, twenty educators will be selected to receive a BBC micro:bit Club pack. Each pack contains 10 BBC micro:bit boards, plus battery adapters, batteries, and USB cables.
The successful educational establishments will then be given ten weeks to implement their proposal and provide an account on the community board. This could be as a blog or vlog. Following this, on December 10, 2018, three educators will be picked to receive a prize pack of BBC micro:bit accessories, made up of add-ons like the element14 Minode Kit , element14 Wear:it Kit , Kitronik Inventor’s Kit.
