The BBC has announced that this coming September, every British child starting secondary school (technically starting "Year 7" at age 11 to 12) will receive a free "personal coding device" provisionally called the Micro Bit. The device will have a primitive display, be wearable and programmable using other computers, including the Raspberry Pi. The Guardianreports from the press launch of the prototype:
“It’s an entry-level device that will enable kids to code and program, and if they enjoy that, clearly they’ll move on to devices like the Arduino and the Raspberry Pi,” games industry veteran Ian Livingstone told the Guardian at the BBC’s Make It Digital launch, where the Micro Bit was unveiled.
“It will actually be very compatible with Raspberry Pi. That’s a full applications processor-based device that runs Linux, with the next one running Windows 10. The Micro Bit is an embedded software platform, so it doesn’t run a full operating system,” added Gary Atkinson, director of emerging technologies at Arm, which is one of the hardware companies involved in the project.
That simplicity is a deliberate move, with hopes children will relish the process of writing code – either in a text-based editor or a graphical user interface like Scratch or Blockly – then compiling it and running it on the Micro Bit.
Since
September 2014, five year olds in England have been taught the rudiments of coding as part of the National Curriculum (other constituent countries of the UK have their own education policies). The broad aim is to increase the number of computer professionals to fill future shortfalls in the number proficient when the first major generation of programmers who cut their teeth on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and BBC Micro in the 1980s come to the end of their working lives, through its
"Make it digital" project.
Make it Digital sees the BBC pulling together some of the biggest names in digital industries, with involvement from Google, Samsung, ARM, Microsoft, BT and many more.
"This is exactly what the BBC is all about - bringing the industry together on an unprecedented scale and making a difference to millions," said Tony Hall, BBC Director-General.
"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."
The aim of Make it Digital is to provide the education and engagement to fill the estimated shortfall of 1.4 million digital professionals we're going to face over the next 5 years
It moves away from "computer studies" being a series of exercises in how to use existing software packages ("This is how to fill in a spreadsheet")
towards creativity:
The device has been in the planning stages for around two years behind the scenes, with physical models available for testing for around 18 months. In that time, the Micro Bit has already been put through its paces, and started sparking some innovative ideas.
"We had a really nice example at Young Rewired State last year, where the kids from the BBC Birmingham team got overall second prize and won the Viewer's Prize. We gave them a handful of Bits, didn't tell them how to do anything, and they ended up creating a digital smart coat hanger system," Baker says. "It was hooked up to a Raspberry Pi to connect with the weather service, and each Bit lit up over the appropriate clothing -- sun hats on bright days, umbrellas when it was raining. We gave them the Bits and that's what they came up with; it involved connecting with Raspberry Pi, it involved them coding it, all from their own idea. So we already know, if you give kids the opportunity and the tools, they'll go and create."
The link with the old BBC Micro continues with the involvement of ARM as one of the partners. You almost certainly have at least one ARM designed device - Apple computers and phones depend on them as do many other cellphones and tablets. ARM grew out of Acorn Computers, the makers of the original BBC Micro computer round which a series of TV shows were made. At the time, there was some controversy about their focus on one, quite expensive, computer when there were a number of rivals on the market, like the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. The Micro Bit is designed as a complement to devices like the Raspberry Pi and other barebones computers to overcome these objections.