The micro:bit was developed to introduce children aged 7 to 14 to the digital world. It’s a sort of tiny computer packed with sensors such as buttons, an accelerometer (so it can detect a shake for example), touch and more. It has LEDs that can be turned on and off and you can connect speakers to it. All these options make a huge variety in projects with the micro:bit possible. For example, you could create a game like rock-paper-scissor where the LEDs of the micro:bit will show either a rock, a piece of paper or scissors when you shake it.  Or you could create a fruit piano where you attach a few pieces of fruit and a speaker to the micro:bit. The fruit will function as the keys and the speaker will make a corresponding sound whenever a key is touched. And there are many many more possibilities. The kids can either pick a project from a number of examples or they can be creative and come up with their own idea for a project. Anything is possible.

The micro:bit comes with an easy and intuitive programming environment. It’s a graphic environment and the examples come with step-by-step illustrations. In this way the kids are gently introduced to programming. They will learn the way of thinking needed in programming and will gradually be introduced to different programming concepts. As the kids will get more familiar with programming the micro:bit, the programming environment will offer them more and more options to grow with their abilities. To get inspired and to see what’s possible with the micro:bit have a look at https://makecode.microbit.org/#

Requirements
– The kids do NOT need any prior experience with the micro:bit or programming
– Kids will work in pairs of 2. Each pair needs 1 computer or smartphone for programming. These are not included. (No special software needs to be installed, internet access is enough)
– I will provide 1 the micro:bit per team
– A monitor or beamer so I can show some stuff from my computer to the whole class at once

Costs
Circumstances and group size influence the cost of the workshop. Get in touch and we can discuss the possibilities!