Everyone knows that the Raspberry Pi was originally meant to train and educate the next generation of programmers, but the project can't do it alone. It needs other tools to join this titanic effort, and that's exactly where the Micro Bit comes in—a mini computer designed by the BBC that will be distributed to every seventh-grade student in the UK, adding up to one million units.
Incorporating programming into the curriculum is one of the many challenges facing traditional education systems. In addition to a lack of teacher preparation, there are infrastructure limitations that even the most advanced computer distribution programs have not been able to overcome. The Raspberry Pi took its first steps as an educational project, but over the years it became something completely different. Even so, its source of inspiration was the classic BBC Micro from 1981, which in turn was part of the BBC Computer Literacy Project. Today, the BBC wants to revive that ideal through the Micro Bit, distributing one million mini computers among all seventh graders in the UK. After several delays and manufacturing problems, delivery of the first units has finally begun.
Hardware and Software
The Micro Bit is based on an ARM Cortex-M0 system-on-chip running at 16 MHz with 16 kilobytes of RAM—specifications that, from a certain point of view, put it on par with a microcontroller. It has a total of 25 programmable LEDs, an accelerometer, a compass, wireless connectivity via Bluetooth Low Energy, a main 20-pin connector, and another for the battery. The micro USB port handles the connection between the Micro Bit and a traditional computer (after all, you need one to program it), and as for languages, all roads lead to Python, though support for C++ and JavaScript has also been confirmed.
Challenges and Potential
As one might expect, the Micro Bit rollout hasn't been completely smooth. A frequent criticism is that the first units arrived too late to be incorporated into the current school year, which adds another delay. Then there's the scale of the project—a million devices don't get built overnight. Nevertheless, the potential is enormous. Names like Microsoft and Samsung are already part of the project, and if all goes well, we'll likely see a commercial version soon.
For more information, visit the official Micro Bit website.
