Micro:bit - The Educational Development Board

Learning about Electronics, wire language and development board coding is often enticing, although many people don’t know where to even begin this complicated hobby. And with so many different options like Arduino, Raspberry Pi and Orange Pi available, as well as a few obscure boards like the Beaglebone, finding a good place to begin learning about it all was becoming a real problem for young Makers. This problem is what fuelled the development of the Micro:bit Educational Development Board, which BBC created to provide to all UK citizens during their schoolyears in an attempt to make electronics coding, design and creation easier and more accessible to everyone.

The Micro:bit educational board has been designed with absolute beginners in mind, and are built to be a simple but effective introduction into the world of modern electronics. It features a full array of built-in modules like an LED matrix display, a 3-axis motion sensor, an onboard compass and even Bluetooth Smart Technology.

This set of features is then complemented by a comprehensive, dedicated online programming tool that anyone can access from any device with internet, which offers predesigned “Blocks” of code that can simply be clicked and dragged into the right places to connect and emulate complicated lines of code – in an easy visual way that is easy to learn and understand. This enables users to build a wide range of different projects without having to know the actual code, but then also takes the educational side a step further by allowing you to learn the code behind all of the creations you make, in an almost reverse-engineer kind of way.

Typical Applications for The Micro:bit Educational Development Board:

Whether you are brand new to electronics and coding, or you just want a simpler, more intuitive interface to learn and build your projects with, The Micro:bit Educational Development Board is an excellent place to begin. Not only does it offer a super-simple way to design and build projects, but also includes a good range of onboard functionality that allows you to build 15 different fantastic projects without having to invest in a single additional component or module.

These relatively simple but highly functional features make the Micro:bit perfect for students who want to learn, and this is especially effective in classroom or learning environments, allowing teachers to teach electronics in a more visual, engaging and interactive way – with the option for students and teachers to share their projects online.

*Please Note: This board is supplied without connectors or a PSU, so that you can get the components that cater to your unique needs.

Additional Resources:

• The Micro:bit Official Site, with extra resources like tutorials, guides and more.
• The Official Micro:bit Online Coding Platform, which allows users to easily build projects with a simple visual interface.

An open source brand with a heart for computer education, Micro:Bit began with the release of their small development board in 2016. The brand shot into teacher’s classrooms and into the hands of children and adults alike, who were ready to learn. The Micro:Bit board does everything in the most tangible way, allowing you to learn practically at every step. Soon, the Microbit Education Foundation sprung to life and produced a website full of free educational resources and lesson plans. Students have the chance to create games, explore coding and design robotics projects. All with the help of Micro:Bit’s easy to understand educational platform! We stock an array of Micro:Bit products, including full educational kits and robotics projects for you to build. Let Micro:Bit bring fun to your first ever electronics project, and enjoy embarking on a whole new creative journey.