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BBC creates micro:bit pocket computer for British schoolchildren
The BBC collaborates with 29 partners to send thousands of miniature computers to every grade 7 child in the UK. This is the BBC you're thinking of - the news organization - and this is not the first time they've done such a project. Micro:bit is aimed at educating the public and setting a creative fire under the feet of the UK's youth. To do this, the micro:bit pocket-sized computer is being distributed for free to students, complete with programmable innards, Bluetooth, built-in compass, and motion detection.
One big "WTF" here is web-based IDE programming tools. There's no specifics about loading programs in the article, but there is a USB port on the micro:bit which will presumably be used to transfer programs into the device - so why send the code out to the web to be programmed instead of including a compiler that runs locally? (For this kind of tiny computer, with a minuscule display, I'm sure something that runs even an a relatively underpowered tablet could be written.)
BBC Finalizes Design For Their New Micro
The BBC has revealed the final design of the Micro Bit, a pocket-sized computer set to be given to about one million UK-based children in October. The device - which features a programmable array of red LED lights - includes two buttons and a built-in motion sensor that were not included in a prototype shown off in March.
The BBC's director general Tony Hall said the device should help tackle the fact children were leaving school knowing how to use computers but not how to program them. "We all know there's a critical and growing digital skills gap in this country and that's why it's so important that we come together and do something about it," he said at a launch event in London.
The Micro Bit is being given away to every 11- and 12-year-old child in Year 7 or equivalent at school.
More on the BBC website.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 08 2015, @08:13AM
BBC is just a news organization just like Google is just a search engine.
(Score: 4, Informative) by isostatic on Wednesday July 08 2015, @09:50AM
The BbCs remit is to inform, educate and entertain.