The BBC micro:bit - from the UK to the World

This article describes the design of the BBC micro:bit, the realization of its goals through examples of the diverse projects crested with the micro:bit, reviews the project's history as it transitioned from a UK-centric to a worldwide project, and concludes with lessons learned and project outcomes.

Project abstract: The micro:bit is a small programmable and embeddable computer designed, developed, and deployed by the BBC and 29 project partners to approximately 800,000 UK Year 7 (11/12 year old) school children in 2015-2016. The micro:bit has been described by the BBC as “its most ambitious education initiative in 30 years, with an ambition to inspire digital creativity and develop a new generation of tech pioneers”. This article describes the design of the BBC micro:bit, the realization of its goals through examples of the diverse projects crested with the micro:bit, reviews the project’s history as it transitioned from a UK-centric to a worldwide project, and concludes with lessons learned and project outcomes.

Level of research: Conference paper

Status: Complete

Who is involved: Micro:bit Educational Foundation, BBC, Microsoft Research, Lancaster University. Jonny Austin, Howard Baker, Thomas Ball, James Devine, Joe Finney, Peli de Halleux, Steve Hodges, Michal Moskal, Gareth Stockdale

What is the area of research: Computer Science

Output: https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/id/eprint/135065/1/cacmMicrobitRevisted2019_1_31.pdf

Contact: jonny@microbit.org, howard@microbit.orgtball@microsoft.com, j.devine@lancaster.ac.ukj.finney@lancaster.ac.uk, jhalleux@microsoft.com, steve.hodges@microsoft.com, michal.moskal@microsoft.com, gareth@microbit.org