Foreword

Coding and computational thinking are foundation skills for the 21st century.Skills that the Micro:bit Education Foundation believes every child should have access to.

The BBC micro:bit began life in the UK back in 2012 and after years of research and product development eventually culminated with 1m BBC micro:bits being distributed to all year 7 children in the UK in 2016.The micro:bit was designed to allow children to get hands on with technology,to unleash their creativity and widen participation.

The BBC micro:bit is a small programmable device.It is easy to program,very versatile,and designed with young learners in mind.In particular its designed to be accessible for people who have never programmed before.

The UK project had huge success with 89%of children who used the micro:bit saying that it showed them that anyone can code and providing a 70%increase in girls saying they would take computing as an option.

The micro:bit has now spread around the world and is available in over 50 countries with national scale projects in Singapore,Denmark,Croatia,Canada to name but a few.

The success of BBC micro:bit is not just down to the innovative hardware device though.It's the micro:bit ecosystem that makes micro:bit such a great tool for educators,children and anyone interested in using tech in inventive and fun ways!Our ecosystem consists of the hardware,peripherals and add ons as well as our great editors.There are also loads of amazing projects,lessons and fun ideas that are freely available online as well as vibrant communities of enthusiasts.

But the most important component of our ecosystem are the people that use it.

So,thank you for picking up this book.We at the Micro:bit Educational Foundation wish you good luck on your micro:bit journey!

Sincerely

The Micro:bit Educational Foundation