21–30 of 82 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In some ways the limitations help, don't have kids wanting to program Quake 7. I use mu, the micropython editor, it shows the error messages on the PC when connected via USB, instead of trying to read them scrolling across the display
I've taught close to 500 kids how to code on them. The number one thing they want to do is show better graphics. Number two is sound. For me, [stepping through the code] I would expect as a normal part of coding. Not having it seems to hark back to some primitive time.
One feature that kills it in the classroom is the Microbit's built-in 5 x 5 LED matrix, which means right out of the box it's "blink" program is much more interesting than the Arduino's one orange LED. Some kids will just spend the entire first day playing with the LED matrix, like getting their name to scroll across it, or programming the LEDs individually to make cool patterns. The Microbit also comes with an external battery holder for two AAA batteries, and feels a lot better to carry in your pocket than an Arduino or Raspberry Pi.
After seeing the tremendous adoption in the UK and meeting the Microbit founders, I am very confident this board will play a big role in introducing K-12 students to digital electronics.
We'll be hiring tech people again soon, so if you want to come and help us teach kids around the world to be inventors, keep your eye on https://micro-bit-educational-foundation.workable.com/
Finally, as the author hoped, the revision of the hardware now shipping is more resilient to ESD than the previous one :)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've taught close to 500 kids how to code on them. The number one thing they want to do is show better graphics. Number two is sound. For me, [stepping through the code] I would expect as a normal part of coding. Not having it seems to hark back to some primitive time.
The problem is that if you let them have good graphics their artskills start getting in the way of the programming.
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Perhaps, if they did, Silicon Valley would be in the UK.
The UK still had a hangover from the 1970s at the time, local phones calls cost money, and Americans have always been a lot richer anyway. I suspect America had the inherent advantage here.
Not always. I do recognize the economic sacrifice the UK made for the sake of winning WWII. It's a beautiful thing - altruism on a national scale.
I helped test the microbit and I wrote a small program for pedagogical purposes. The hardware was very neat and I liked the leds on the back. Originally there was going to be a coin cell battery but they removed it because children might eat it. Also there is a Bluetooth radio on the microbit but the runtime was 12k and there wasn't enough space to load micropython and Bluetooth at the same time . A link to the examp…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In some ways the limitations help, don't have kids wanting to program Quake 7. I use mu, the micropython editor, it shows the error messages on the PC when connected via USB, instead of trying to read them scrolling across the display
I've taught close to 500 kids how to code on them. The number one thing they want to do is show better graphics. Number two is sound. For me, [stepping through the code] I would expect as a normal part of coding. Not having it seems to hark back to some primitive time.
(Personal note: I've had a lot of fun doing sound on computers from the PC speaker (1 voice square wave), to the SAA1099 as found on the Game Blaster and optional add on for the Sound Blaster (12 voices square wave, 6 per chip), the BASIC stamp mentioned above, or most recently generating wave forms with math (adding sine waves together) and outputting it to DirectX which I learned from Handmade Hero day 007 through 009.[4])
[1] This one exactly: https://www.parallax.com/product/90005
[2] Two frequencies per pin with FREQOUT command: http://www.parallax.com/go/PBASICHelp/Content/LanguageTopics...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've taught close to 500 kids how to code on them. The number one thing they want to do is show better graphics. Number two is sound. For me, [stepping through the code] I would expect as a normal part of coding. Not having it seems to hark back to some primitive time.
The problem is that if you let them have good graphics their artskills start getting in the way of the programming.
Then we do a digital pet (think tamagotchi) and again, with a low pixel count this is crap. They want to draw unicorns or fish or bunnies. None of this is possible.
After that they want it to beep when the pet is hungry. No can do.
All pretty basic stuff.
16 KB of memory? The “64” in “Commodore 64”, the name of a computer introduced in 1982, stands for 64 KB of memory. (A 128 KB version followed 3 years later.) It is now 35 years since 1982…
To be fair, the British government didn't give a Commodore 64 to every British child for free.
My child's DT teacher did, but they used it for one lesson, then were given it to bring home. It's now in a drawer somewhere.
That was last year. I haven't heard of any plans to repeat the exercise.