As we head towards the latter part of the school year, it feels like a good point to reflect on how far we’ve come with the 成人论坛 micro:bit project.
So far we’ve delivered to around 80% of secondary schools across the UK – that’s approaching three quarters of a million micro:bits in the hands of students.
And from the web statistics we’re getting, we know those devices are being put to good use. The microbit.co.uk website has received more than 4.5 million visits so far.
We also know that 440,000 programs have been downloaded onto micro:bits, that means that students and teachers have made their micro:bits ‘do’ stuff almost half a million times.
Some of the stuff they’ve been doing has been pretty impressive too. One school has sent a 成人论坛 micro:bit into (near) space, to gauge the temperature. It’s both a relief and a testament to the robustness of the device that the micro:bit in question managed to survive the landing.... Another school has created a “microgotchi”- a 成人论坛 micro:bit pet that needs to be fed and cared for on a regular basis.
And teachers are proud of what they and their students are producing, proud enough to share it – we have had almost 80,000 scripts published on the website by teachers already.
It’s not just in the classroom where the devices are making an impact though. One teacher got in touch to tell us this:
I gave them to my first class to take home on Monday (all of them will be taking them home this week and will hopefully play on them more from home now that they know where to find tutorials and projects and what the device is capable of.) Already some children have been coming to show me the games they have programmed on their devices in their own time. They have been trying to come into the Computing Lab to program them during their breaks and the look of joy on their faces when they realised they could take them home, and they were theirs to keep was such a pleasure to see.
Our job isn’t done yet though. We are still delivering to schools and if your school hasn’t yet registered there is still time to do so –just. We will be closing registrations on June 12th with the aim of delivering our final micro:bits before the end of the summer term. To register please fill in the online form on the micro:bit website
We’ve also got lots more activities lined up to inspire students to use their micro:bits in the classroom and at home and we’ll be keeping focused on that until at least the end of the year.
On 7th June our latest Live Lesson on the 成人论坛 micro:bit will investigate how computer science can be used to aid our exploration of space. micro:bit Mission to Mars will also extend the use of the devices across STEM subjects, looking at how they can be used in biology and physics. You can watch .
We have also teamed up with the Wellcome Trust on their latest project and have launched the Big Food Survey. In the autumn term we’ll be asking the new Year 8s to use their 成人论坛 micro:bits to collect data on what they eat it, where they it and with whom. This will represent the biggest collection of data on the eating habits of a generation and will provide valuable insight for the students, schools and academics.
The 成人论坛 micro:bit is proving a valuable teaching resource and crucially, a hit with students. And we’re excited by the prospect of children continuing to learn and create amazing things with the micro:bit across their high school career.
Sinead Rocks is Head of 成人论坛 Learning
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