The document discusses the BBC Micro:Bit, a small, programmable computer developed by the BBC to inspire kids to learn computer programming. It provides background on affordable home computers in the 1970s-80s that allowed kids to learn programming. It describes the Micro:Bit's features and programming options and provides examples of simple programs. It argues the Micro:Bit will help revive computer science education in UK schools by making programming accessible and fun for students. Distributing the Micro:Bit to all 7th grade students is meant to inspire the next generation of programmers and help ensure the UK's future competitiveness in technology.

1. BBC MICRO:BIT
EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT
SEX THE MICRO:BIT BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK
Anthony McKay
January 13th 2016
ant@anthonymckay.co.uk

2. WHAT ARE YOU ABOUT TO LEARN?
• WHAT IT WILL DO FOR YOU
• WHAT IT WILL DO FOR YOUR PUPILS
• WHAT IT WILL DO FOR THE COUNTRY

3. REVOLUTION OF 1977-1981
• THE DAWN OF THE PERSONAL COMPUTER
• THE DAWN OF AFFORDABLE COMPUTING
• BASIC – AN EASY PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE
3 Things Happened

4. BEFORE 1977…...

6. 1977 – TANDY TRS-80

7. 1978 COMMODORE PET

8. 1980 – SINCLAIR ZX80 - £?

9. 1981 – ZX SPECTRUM

10. 1981 “AUNTIE” BBC COMPUTER

11. WHAT DID THEY ALL HAVE IN COMMON?
• VERY AFFORDABLE
• SMALL ENOUGH TO HAVE AT HOME
• SHIPPED WITH THE ALL THE FOLLOWING SOFTWARE…....

12. Absolutely NONE!!

13. WELL, ALMOST NONE
• “BASIC” INTERPRETER
• BEGIINERS ALL PURPOSE SYMBOLIC INSTRUCTION CODE
• SIMPLE TEXT-BASED PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE

14. 10 input “What is your name”, name$
20 for x = 1 to 10
30 print name$, “ is brilliant”
40 next x
SIMPLE BASIC PROGRAM

15. IMPLICATIONS
• YOU HAD TO WRITE CODE TO MAKE IT DO ANYTHING
• VERY EASY TO WRITE A SMALL PROGRAM IN BASIC
• INSTANT GRATIFICATION
• INCENTIVE TO EXPLORE AND EXPERIMENT
• (GEEKY) (MALE) KIDS TAUGHT THEMSELVES TO PROGRAM

18. EFFECT ON INDUSTRY
• BRITAIN SPAWNED A POOL OF SOFTWARE TALENT
• MANY SUCCESSFUL GAMES COMPANIES FORMED – EIDOS
• MANY KIDS WENT INTO COMPUTING CAREERS
• I WORKED IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS SOFTWARE

19. IMPACT ON ME AT SCHOOL
• IN YEAR 11MY SCHOOL HAD 1 PET COMPUTER
• MYSELF AND OTHERS QUEUED UP TO USE IT
• WROTE SIMPLE SIMPLE PROGRAMS AND SIMPLE GAMES
• I WAS ADDICTED!
• JOINED THE FOLLOWING EXCITING SCHOOL PROJECT….

22. WE WON!

23. BUT THEN BRITAIN LOST ITS WAY
• PROGRAMMING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE WAS NOT TAUGHT
• SCHOOLS TAUGHT ICT
• FOCUSSED ON HOW TO USE: MICROSOFT WORD, MICROSOFT POWERPOINT, A
KEYBOARD!
• HOME COMPUTERS WERE NOW PCS
• EXPENSIVE
• NOT AIMED AT ALLOWING KIDS TO PROGRAM (DIFFICULT, EXPENSIVE)
• AS A COUNTRY WE ABANDONED THE NEXT GENERATION OF KIDS

24. CONSUMERS
NOT
CREATORS

25. Eric Schmidt, Chairman of Google, August 2011
MacTaggart Lecture, Edinburgh,

26. "I was flabbergasted to learn that today
computer science isn't even taught as a
standard in UK schools. Your IT
curriculum focuses on teaching how to
use software, but gives no insight into
how it's made. That is just throwing
away your great computer heritage."
Eric Schmidt, Edinburgh, August 2011

27. GOVERNMENT TOOK NOTE
• COMPUTING SCIENCE ADDED TO NATIONAL CURRICULUM
• TEACH HOW TO CREATE, NOT TO CONSUME
• FOCUS ON ANALYSIS, PROGRAMMING, DESIGN

28. BBC WANTED TO DO IT AGAIN!
• WANTED SOMETHING TO HELP GET KIDS CODING AGAIN
• BBC LEARNING HAVE WIDE REACH AND EXPERTISE WITHIN EDUCATION
• COULD NOT FUND SUCH A PROJECT THEMSELVES
• NEEDED PARTNERS
• IT HAD TO BE SMALL, EXPANDABLE, CONNECTABLE, INSPIRING,….
• ....AND VERY LOW COST

29. Slide courtesy of Howard Baker, BBC Learning

30. TONY HALL - DIRECTOR GENERAL, BBC

31. This is exactly what the BBC is all about - bringing
the industry together on an unprecedented scale
and making a difference to millions. Just as we did
with the BBC Micro in the 1980s, we want to
inspire the digital visionaries of the future. Only
the BBC can bring partners together to attempt
something this ambitious, this important to
Britain’s future on the world stage.

32. Slide courtesy of Howard Baker, BBC Learning

33. SO WHAT EXACTLY IS A MICRO:BIT?
• TINY BUT POWERFUL COMPUTER
• BATTERY-OPERATED – 2 AAA (ALSO POWERS FROM USB PORT)
• WEARABLE !
• CAN BE PROGRAMMED QUICKLY AND EASILY
• FREE TO ALL YEAR 7 PUPILS THIS SPRING (IF SCHOOL HAS REGISTERED)

34. IT CRAMS IN ALL THIS….
• 25 RED LEDS
• 2 BUTTONS
• DIGITAL COMPASS
• ACCELEROMETER (MEASURES MORE THAN ACCELERATION)
• TEMPERATURE SENSOR
• BLUETOOTH
• SOUND OUTPUT
• MICRO-USB CONNECTOR TO PC/TABLET
• CONNECTOR TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD WITH EVEN MORE INPUTS/OUTPUTS

35. Slide courtesy of Howard Baker, BBC Learning

36. Slide courtesy of Howard Baker, BBC Learning

37. SO WHAT DOES IT DO?
• HTTPS://WWW.MICROBIT.CO.UK/WATCH-VIDEO

38. HOW DO YOU PROGRAM IT?
• ALL PROGRAMMING IS VIA A WEB PAGE : WWW.MICROBIT.CO.UK
• 4 ”LANGUAGES” TO CHOOSE FROM:
• WEB SITE INCLUDES A MICRO:BIT SIMULATOR
• ONCE WEB PAGE IS LOADED NO INTERNET CONNECTION REQUIRED
• WEB DEVELOPMENT & SIMULATOR WORK ON TABLETS AS WELL AS PCS/MACS

43. HOW DO YOU GET YOUR CODE ONTO THE
MICRO:BIT?
• CODE TRANSFERRED TO MICRO:BIT OVER USB OR BLUETOOTH
• DRAG CODE FROM “DOWNLOADS” FOLDER TO MICRO:BIT
• MICRO:BIT RUNS YOUR PROGRAM IMMEDIATELY UPON SWITCH ON

44. SAVING YOUR CODE
• CODE SAVED WITHIN THE BROWSER
• CODE CAN BE SAVED TO A FILE; MOVED TO USB MEMORY STICK; EMAILED
• CODE CAN BE STORED ON MICRO:BIT SECURE WEB SITE
• CODE ON WEB SITE CAN BE EDITED FROM HOME

45. MANY PROJECT IDEAS WITH JUST THE
MICRO:BIT
• ELECTRONIC DICE – SHAKE TO ROLL THE DICE
• DIGITAL COMPASS
• MOTION SENSITIVE BADGE
• PEOPLE COUNTER
• GAMES – MORE FROM DAVID WHALE LATER!

46. DEMO TIME!

47. PEOPLE COUNTER
• REALLY EASY TO PRODUCE
• EVERY “SHAKE” OF THE DEVICE ADDS ONE TO THE COUNTER
• WRITTEN IN BLOCK EDITOR
• TOOK LESS THAN 60 SECONDS TO PRODUCE!

49. SPIRIT LEVEL EXAMPLE
• USES ACCELEROMETER IN THE MICRO:BIT
• USES BUTTONS TO ADJUST SENSITIVITY OF THE SPIRIT LEVEL
• ALGORITHM TO CONVERT X/Y FORCE TO LED POSITION
• ALGORITHM TO MANAGE SENSITIVITY
• RUNS IN SIMULATOR AND ON ACTUAL MICRO:BIT

50. SPIRIT LEVEL – WHAT HAS IT TAUGHT?
• MICRO:BIT IS TURNED INTO A USABLE TOOL THROUGH SOFTWARE
• PUPILS CAN SEE IMMEDIATE PRACTICAL APPLICATION
• THE OUTPUT IS A REAL TOOL, NOT JUST ABSTRACT DATA
• STIMULATES THINKING INTO OTHER POSSIBILITIES
• SIMPLE TASK ADDRESSES MULTIPLE ASPECTS OF KS3 CURRICULUM

51. HOW WILL IT HELP YOU?
• COMPUTING CAN APPEAR VERY ABSTRACT
• MICRO:BIT MAKE COMPUTING REAL – FLASH LIGHTS, HELP TAKE SELFIES & MUCH MORE
• CONSIDERABLE ONLINE RESOURCES AVAILABLE
• TURNS COMPUTING INTO REAL-WORLD ACTIVITIES
• PROVIDES EASY LOW-COST PLATFORM FOR DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS
• ENGAGES PUPILS THROUGH FUN ACTIVITIES THAT APPEAL TO GIRLS AS WELL AS BOYS

52. DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY IDEAS
• CONNECTOR:
• ALLOWS CONTROL OF MOTORS, LEDS, SENSORS
• CONNECT A TEMPERATURE SENSOR, MOTION DETECTOR ETC
• USE TO CREATE AN INTELLIGENT DEVICE
• EG ROBOT VEHICLE

53. Slide courtesy of Howard Baker, BBC Learning

54. Slide courtesy of Howard Baker, BBC Learning

55. WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE
MICRO:BIT AND THE RASPBERRY PI?

56. MICRO:BIT
• FREE
• BATTERY OPERATED
• VERY EASY TO GET STARTED
• ULTRA-LIGHTWEIGHT OPERATING SYSTEM
• SMALL AMOUNT OF INPUT/OUTPUT (I/O)
• GREAT FOR ALL AGES
RASPBERRY PI
• £20
• NEEDS EXTERNAL POWER (OR LARGE BATTERY)
• GETTING GOING MORE COMPLEX
• FULL-BLOWN LINUX
• LOTS OF I/O
• BETTER FOR OLDER KIDS

57. HOW WILL IT HELP YOUR PUPILS
• EASY ACCESS TO THEIR OWN PROGRAMMABLE COMPUTER
• WORK CAN BE STORED IN THE CLOUD AND CONTINUED EASILY AT HOME
• ENCOURAGES THEM TO PROGRAM TO MAKE THEIR IDEAS REAL
• AID IN DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS

58. HOW WILL IT HELP YOUR PUPILS
• MAKING A SMALL DEVICE DO YOUR WILL IS INSPIRING
• APPEALS ACROSS THE GENDERS AND AGES
• PROVIDES A FANTASTIC AND FUN INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING

59. …AND FOR BRITAIN?
• INSPIRE THE DIGITAL VISIONARIES OF THE FUTURE
• HELP EQUIP OUR CHILDREN WITH THE SKILLS FOR A DIGITAL FUTURE
• NURTURE THE SKILLS FOR WORLD-CLASS TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES LIKE ARM

60. MICRO:BIT IS COMING
• GET READY
• GET ON THE WEB SITE AND GET CODING NOW – USE THE SIMULATOR
• LOOK AT THE CONSIDERABLE RESOURCES AVAILABLE ONLINE
• USE STEM AMBASSADORS!

61. RESOURCES
• WWW.MICROBIT.CO.UK (BBC’S OWN SITE FOR WRITING MICRO:BIT CODE)
• HTTP://FARADAY.THEIET.ORG (LARGE MICRO:BIT SECTION, RESOURCES, CPD AND MORE). NEED TO REGISTER BUT
IT’S FREE
• HTTP://WWW.COMPUTINGATSCHOOL.ORG.UK/SECONDARY LOTS OF MATERIAL FOR TEACHERS
• HTTP://WWW.SLIDESHARE.NET/ANTHONYMCKAY3/TEACHER-TWILIGHT-PRESENTATION-JANUARY-13TH-2016
(THIS PRESENTATION)
• HTTPS://WWW.MICROBIT.CO.UK/ZRKGED SHAKERCOUNTER PROJECT
• HTTPS://WWW.MICROBIT.CO.UK/HQPUXT SPIRIT LEVEL PROJECT

62. FORMAL PART OVER
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING
BUT WE’RE NOT DONE YET…..

63. NOW IT’S YOUR TURN!

64. MAKE A NAME BADGE
• ENSURE YOU ARE ON WIFI
• OPEN BROWSER TO WWW.MICROBIT.CO.UK
• CLICK ”CREATE CODE”
• IN BLOCK EDITOR CLICK “NEW PROJECT”