“We make micro:bit the easiest and most effective learning tool for digital skills and creativity.”

Micro:bit website (https://microbit.org/)

Students need to learn computational thinking skills so that they can develop problem solving skills, fundamental computer skills and design opportunities (Wing, 2006). Although there are strong links with computers, teaching computational thinking skills can be done without any technology, as people can ‘act’ as the computer. This is a way to get younger students engaged with basic coding and thinking about how computers work.

What is the Micro:bit?
The Micro:bit is a technology which can fit in the palm of your hand but has endless programming opportunities. It has inbuilt ‘LED arrays, buttons and digital/analog inputs/outputs’ (Matteson, 2017). Its low cost means it can be purchased for classroom use and utilised across multiple subjects and ages. Micro:bit is a technology which can be programmed to play games, make creations or do almost anything you want it to.

Creativity
Successful computational thinking is more than just thinking how computers think, there is a level of creativity (Wing, 2006). Getting students to critically think about how the world around them works, why we use technology and the benefits it can have all mean that the students gain a better understanding of the task at hand.
Allowing students to be creative means they need to have some freedom to express themselves and design or create a task (Beghetto & Kaufman, 2013). For the micro:bit technology to enhance creativity, teachers need to ensure they set open ended tasks in which the students are allowed to problem solve (Chalmers, 2018). Coding in itself, has an element of problem solving and students use trial and error to test if their code is working successfully.

Classroom Use
Maths = probability of wining scissors, paper, rock (shown in the image below)
Science = measuring how clean water is
Music/ Dance = connect to a speaker and write music to play

Micro:bit involves students coding on a computer with their results being visible on the device (as shown below). Even a beginner coder would be able to use this program, as it has videos and explanations on how to complete each step, making it accessible to all students. 

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Other benefits
– Cheap cost
– Good technology to get students excited about coding
– Useful in a range of subject areas

References
Beghetto, R. A., & Kaufman, J. C. (2013). Fundamentals of Creativity. Educational Leadership, 70(5), 10-15.

Chalmers, C. (2018). Robotics and computational thinking in primary school. International Journal of child-computer interaction, 17, 93-100.

Matteson, A. (2017). Palm computing: For beginning coders, the Micro:bit promises to grow with learner’s skill levels. School library Journal, 63(11), 16-17.

Wing, J. M. (2006). Computational thinking. Communications of the ACM, 49(3), 33-35.

https://microbit.org/