The Micro:bit is a small-sized computer that has been designed to make coding fun and easy to learn. But what is its purpose and what can we do with it?
The beginning of Micro:bit
The Micro:bit became fully operational in October 2016 after having backing from founding members such as the BBC. It was originally designed to secure a legacy for the BBC Make It Digital project which encouraged school children to use their imaginations to create a piece of tech with the help of their own Micro:bit.
What is the mission of Micro:bit?
The aim of the Micro:bit is to support educational tech programs on a global level. It’s also there to inspire and enable all children to get involved in the digital world. They particularly aim to help girls and those from disadvantaged groups to get into tech and use their full potential.
Micro:bit also collaborates with educators from around the world to help curate incredible curriculum material for schools, colleges, and universities to benefit from. By supporting these communities of educators and partners they can remove any barriers to learning new digital skills.
What can you do with a Micro:bit?
The Micro:bit can be programmed to perform an endless number of tasks, however simple or complex as the programmer designs them to be.
For example, kids can program their Micro:bit to be used as a digital watch, an egg timer, a fitness tracker, or even a simple arcade-style games console.
Like a pocket-sized computer, the tiny Micro:bit is able to encourage kids to learn simple coding skills along with an intro on how to program things in order to prepare them for the future.
The importance of collaboration and partnership with the Micro:bit foundation
The Micro:bit is all about partnerships and community. Building up relationships with different businesses that have a passion for technology and educating young people on how to use it is the focus that the creators of the Micro:bit look for when finding partners to work with.
They work in collaboration with educational facilities and technology-based companies such as OKdo to supply their products and provide information to those who use them.
Richard Curtin, Co-Founder of Okdo said that “Okdo signed a new partnership with Micro:bit, and in the later part of last year that partnership now means that we are one of two master distributors of the Micro:bit board globally. “
