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The Great micro:bit Education Giveaway!

 

 

Hello Community!

 

WINNERS HAVE NOW BEEN SELECTED! SEE THEM HERE:

 

The Great micro:bit Education Giveaway - Winners!

 

Back to School season is upon us! For many students and educators, the month of August signifies a return to school, and to shopping for the classroom. This past June, members of the element14 Community team were able to attend the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) convention, which took place this year in Chicago. We stood guard at the micro:bit booth, not only to help the great people from the foundation handle the onslaught of questions about the micro:bitmicro:bit, but also to learn more about this wonderful SBC.

 

One of the most impactful things we learned while we were in attendance was that teachers of all grade-levels and experience were keen to integrate the micro:bit into their curriculum, but many voiced that they did not have the budget nor the technical expertise to do so. While the micro:bit Educational Foundation provides a wide array of resources to get started, they unfortunately cannot give the boards away for free.

 

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This is where we come in! We were so inspired by all of the educators we got to speak with that our fearless leader, Dianne Kibbey, the Global Head of the element14 Community tasked us to come up with a program to get micro:bit into the hands of as many learners as possible.

 

So, with that in mind, we bring you our Great micro:bit Education Giveaway!

 

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Phase 1:

 

We will be giving our 25 selected contestants micro:bit Clubmicro:bit Club packs, which each contain 10 micro:bit boards, battery adapters, batteries, and USB cables. The micro:bit is a global product, so this contest is open to all countries!

 

Phase 1 is now complete! Thank you so much for all your entries, they're amazing and we can't wait to read them (we've gotten a head start on that, to tell the truth). Please feel free to continue discussing the contest in the comments section here, but unfortunately we can no longer accept new applications. Everyone who has submitted prior to this note being added is considered an applicant.

 

To enter, please:

 

1) Register on the Community, if you are not yet a member.

 

2) In the comments section below on this document, post your answers to the following questions:

 

• Who are you? What is your background as an educator? And don't worry, we're welcoming educators of all levels of experience. If you're trying to help students learn about coding and working with electronics, we want you! (Please do not post your address or other personal information in your application here, just general information about your background. Feel free to use your username if you'd prefer not to post your full name.)

 

• How would you use these micro:bits in your classroom, after school club, or wherever you might be trying to help others learn to code?

 

Enrollment begins August 20th, 2018. You will have until September 19th to submit your application as a comment on this document, after which our team will review the applications and select the participants on September 24th. We've chosen to place these applications in the comments on this document so that you can discuss your plan with other educators, give tips to those whose work is similar to yours, and so you can potentially be inspired by them!

 

Selected Winners:

 

 

Congratulations to our selected winners! We have decided to give away 25 micro:bit Club packs due to how many amazing entries we received. We will be contacting the selected members via email shortly about the next steps, so please respond no later than October 1st, 2018. Due to trade regulations, it is possible that certain countries will be disallowed for shipping, but this is (thankfully!) very rare.

We have also selected alternates should those listed above not respond or if we are not able to ship to their countries. Once you receive your Club pack you can get started on Phase 2!

 

Phase 2:

 

Once you are selected as a winner, you will have 10 weeks to implement you project plan and document it on the Community. Your blogs / vlogs must be posted to the community by December 3rd. The documentation requirements will be the following:

 

1) Write up a blog (or do a video blog) about your project.

 

2) Your blog or vlog must have a syllabus/lesson plan that includes the following information:

 

• what ages and/or grade-level(s) it's aimed toward

• what subject/s does it cover

• what are the project goals

• step-by-step instructions including any print-outs, bill of materials (BOM)

• photos and/or videos

 

On December 10th we will select three (3) educators who have completed their documentation on the Community to win a prize pack of micro:bit accessories and other items that will expand the potential of this powerhouse little board. To be eligible as a contestant and to potentially receive prizes you must submit your comments and blogs according to the schedule of dates below. Also, see below for prize details.

 

Important Dates

 

Enrollment BeginsAugust 20th, 2018
Enrollment EndsSeptember 19th, 2018
Contestants AnnouncedSeptember 24th, 2018
All Blogs DueDecember 3rd, 2018
Winning Blogs AnnouncedDecember 10th, 2018

 

 

Prizes

 

We're also RoadTesting some great micro:bit accessories and expansion kits, including some of the prizes offered here. Check them out!

 

 

BOSON Starter Kit + micro:bit

 

:MOVE mini buggy kit + microbit


:GAME ZIP 64 for the BBC micro:bit

 

micro:bit wear:it Development Kit

 

 

 

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element14 Minode Kitelement14 Minode Kit

 

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element14 Wear:it Kitelement14 Wear:it Kit

 

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Kitronik Inventor's KitKitronik Inventor's Kit

 

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Kitronik Move mini Robot KitKitronik Move mini Robot Kit

 

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Proto-Pic Micro:Pixel LED Expansion BoardProto-Pic Micro:Pixel LED Expansion Board

 

Our goal for the Great micro:bit Education Giveaway is to help teachers get micro:bit in the hands of their students and, in doing so, help other educators to do the same. As everyone knows, often the best way to teach something is by example. So get your ideas together and let us know -- What would you do with micro:bit in the classroom?

 

micro:bit Resources

 

http://microbit.org/guide/

 

10 micro:bit Projects in 10 Days

 

An Introduction to Computer Science with BBC micro:bit: The Full Curriculum

 

BBC micro:bit Poster | Free Download for your Classroom

 

See Projects by our VCP micromonsters

 

micro:bit Basics for Teachers

Attachments:
imageGMG-Terms and Conditions.pdf

  • This is my first year teaching CS.  I am teaching a class at High School, and I'm also teaching a class at Middle School.  I'm also planning to use the MicroBit in my elementary classes.  I'm currently working on a lesson introducing technology and what a computer is to 3rd graders.  In that lesson we will use the MicroBit to say Hello and their name.  We will use them again later on, but I haven't planned that far yet.  I am planning to use them with my middle school classes also.

  • My name is Karen. I'm from Manchester in the UK and I'll be starting my computer science teacher training this September!

     

    I love the Micro:bit. I had to buy one for myself to experiment with. Even though the UK government gave Micro:bits out free to schools in England, some schools no longer have the kit image.

     

    As a trainee teacher, it would be great to have my own set of resources that I can take into any school.

     

    I have already completed some projects with the Micro:bit and I'm looking forward to using them in the classroom.

     

    I plan to carry out some research into investigating how programming and physical computing can help students understand computer science concepts. I already plan to use Micro:bit for this.

     

    There's a perception among students that computer science is all boring theory. I plan to challenge this. image

  • I am a college professor teaching a microcontroller course to students in an Applied Aviation Technology program.  They need to learn how to program Microcontrollers so that they can develop and use various sensors that they will mount on unmanned aerial vehicles to gather information for various reasons.  I have personally found the MicroBit to be a very effective way to learn to program it’s microcontroller as a first step toward more complex single-board computers like the Raspberry Pi and Arduino boards.  Having a number of these MicroBit boards would be really helpful to the students in their development of microcontroller programming skills.

  • Greetings to the community!

    I am Chinmay Tompe, a fourth year student majoring in Electronics and Telecomm. at Thakur College, Mumbai,India . We have an IEEE student chapter and along with being the advisor to the IEEE officers I'm also part of the IEEE Bombay Section Student Activity Committee.

    One of the activities we have been undertaking for a couple of years under the guidance of our professor Dr. Lochan Jolly is Techworld (link) a hands on laboratory session where school students(6th to 10 th grade)  can play around with setups of small experiments using electronic components and experience output.These sessions are free of cost.Another aim of this initiative is to encourage kids to take up STEM field careers or particularly- Engineering. Undergraduate students work on this project by developing new and fun circuits with the help of development boards and these circuits are used by school kids to experience electronics. We have set up a Youtube channel( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzpNJXrYP1OrAlRUx2FJXcg/videos ) (We're currently in the process of building a webpage for Techworld which will have pictures from the previous events)

    Honestly, I am not very familiar with the Micro:bit board because here in India, most dev projects involve Arduino or Raspberry Pi, mostly because of the large community and ease with which you can program them and hence it would amazing if we could introduce this fairly new piece of technology to the students which I'm sure they will learn pretty fast. The entire kit looks pretty fun and engaging.Also, it's amazing to see so many educators, hobbyist and entrepreneurs in the comments working to promote STEM with amazing ideas.Hope it encourages this community to come up with more of such giveaways!

    Thank you.

  • I am an Electronics student and I have worked on IOT and programming with Raspberry-pi and Arduino but not have used micro:bit,so that would be great to share my user Experience through BLOGS/VLOGS.micro:bit can be very useful for children to learn as well as create their own Robot or anything.I am teaching poor students of my locality under an Organisation called BACCHPAN( childhood) at my College so I will be good enough to share my best experience to many people through my Blogs.....!

    thank you!

  • Hello, WriterofBooks researching and writing business and technical lessons which are published on TES for High School pupils aged 11 to 16 years. Also applied to write BTEC Computer Science, Digital and Information Technology resources. Would write 10 examples and 10 exercises for each of the 10 boards to expand the students knowledge. Come from an Electronics Test and Information Technology Support background and expanded with Process Analyst, Quality Engineer, Technical Writer and Trainer roles.

  • Hello! My name is Mr. Krishnarajsinh Jadav, Masters in Electrical Engineering and Currently working as a Lecturer in the Government Polytechnic College in INDIA.

     

    I have started my own website (Kraj | Just Grab It ) and YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/krajtechnocrates ) for my students. In this platforms I am sharing all the latest boards and circuits development tools to students all around the world. Currently we are using arduino, raspberry pi and many other boards for project development.

     

    If I got chance, I can develop MOOC on micro:bit.image

  • I am an Electronics Engineer working on Embedded Systems and do PCB Designing too.

     

    I occasionally train the beginners from polytechnic and eng colleges, and training school students with current STEM tools were my long term pending task, but I have no clue how fast and

    as easily they can catch-up and we have very limited/no access to these tools.

     

    If got selected, I will do a pilot run with 4 kids in our home and sister who is working as a Teacher at a high school and then expand further from the learning's.

  • Hi! My name is Ashley Hobbs and I am a library media specialist in a highly-diverse school that serves students in a K-6 elementary school.  I introduced code.org and other introductory block coding programs to my students about 3 years ago.  My students love coding and in the past couple of years I was able to borrow Spheros, write a grant for a Dash and Dot robot, and get 1 free microbit for attending a training.  My students love these, but I was only able to utilize these during small group lunch meetings, because of only having one device.  If I was given the chance to work with 10 microbits I plan on using the microbit with my 2nd-6th graders, which would impact a couple hundred kiddos.  Luckily, I already have laptops available to connect the microbits, so that wouldn't be an issue.  I have also attended a one day training in ways the micro-bit could be used, so I feel confident I would be able to successfully guide my students in using the microbits.  Thanks so much for this opportunity and I hope I am chosen!

  • Hello!

    I am Janet Albert, a 4th grade teacher in the midwest. Our school is trying to implement as as much STEM and coding learning as we can to help our students in this electronic world. I will be honest and say that I usually learn more from my students in this area than they learn from me, but that is one of the things I love best about programming and STEM learning. I shouldn't always be the teacher. Allowing my students to lead give them so much confidence. They also grow their leadership, communication, and relational skills through these experiences. I know they would love to add micro:bit to our programming experience in the classroom. Right now much of our  programming is done through Code.org. What a wonderful addition this would be!  Thank you so much!