BBC MICRO:BIT

EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SEX THE MICRO:BIT

BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASKAnthony McKay

January 13th 2016ant@anthonymckay.co.uk

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

REVOLUTION OF 1977-1981

• THE DAWN OF THE PERSONAL COMPUTER

• THE DAWN OF AFFORDABLE COMPUTING

• BASIC – AN EASY PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE

3 Things Happened

BEFORE 1977…...

1977 – TANDY TRS-80

1978 COMMODORE PET

1980 – SINCLAIR ZX80 - £?

1981 – ZX SPECTRUM

1981 “AUNTIE” BBC COMPUTER

WHAT DID THEY ALL HAVE IN COMMON?

• VERY AFFORDABLE• SMALL ENOUGH TO HAVE AT HOME• SHIPPED WITH THE ALL THE FOLLOWING

SOFTWARE…....

Absolutely NONE!!

WELL, ALMOST NONE

• “BASIC” INTERPRETER• BEGIINERS ALL PURPOSE SYMBOLIC

INSTRUCTION CODE

• SIMPLE TEXT-BASED PROGRAMMING

LANGUAGE

10 input “What is your name”, name$20 for x = 1 to 1030 print name$, “ is brilliant”40 next x

SIMPLE BASIC PROGRAM

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

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

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….

WE WON!

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

CONSUMERSNOT

CREATORS

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

"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

GOVERNMENT TOOK NOTE

• COMPUTING SCIENCE ADDED TO NATIONAL CURRICULUM

• TEACH HOW TO CREATE, NOT TO CONSUME

• FOCUS ON ANALYSIS, PROGRAMMING, DESIGN

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

Slide courtesy of Howard Baker, BBC Learning

TONY HALL - DIRECTOR GENERAL, BBC

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.

Slide courtesy of Howard Baker, BBC Learning

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)

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

Slide courtesy of Howard Baker, BBC Learning

Slide courtesy of Howard Baker, BBC Learning

SO WHAT DOES IT DO?

• HTTPS://WWW.MICROBIT.CO.UK/WATCH-VIDEO

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

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

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

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!

DEMO TIME!

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!

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

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

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

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

Slide courtesy of Howard Baker, BBC Learning

Slide courtesy of Howard Baker, BBC Learning

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE MICRO:BIT AND THE RASPBERRY

PI?

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

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

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

…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

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!

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-JANUAR

Y-13TH-2016

(THIS PRESENTATION)

• HTTPS://WWW.MICROBIT.CO.UK/ZRKGED SHAKERCOUNTER PROJECT

• HTTPS://WWW.MICROBIT.CO.UK/HQPUXT SPIRIT LEVEL PROJECT

FORMAL PART OVER

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING

BUT WE’RE NOT DONE YET…..

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN!

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”