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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

  • Hello!  My name is JD and I teach middle school science, robotics coach, STEM and coding clubs sponsor, STEM camp instructor, and computer specialist.  I have a passion for STEM and helping students to find a passion that fits them.

     

    If I were to win the micro:bits, I would use them to help my students start to build an understanding of how coding can bring things to the real world.  Our new state standards and testing (boo), are including computer science this year (which is great), and I want students to have physical interaction with materials to help build their understanding of these concepts.  I would use these in my science classes and STEM club - possibly next year at our STEM camp as well.

  • I'm a Professor of Electrical Engineering.  Many of us would like to improve gender equality at the college level in both EE as well as Computer Science.  We have recently begun offering summer camps for middle school girls in both CS and EE (The EE flavored camp is called APOGEE, which stands for "Anything is Possible for Girls in Electrical Engineering").  As we expand our curriculum, hands on experiments which ties all this together is crucial... that's where micro:bits could play a big part!!

  • Who are you?

    Hi!  I'm a software engineer and father to a 9 year old son who has an intense interest in science

     

    What is your background as an educator?

    My son attends the School of Engineering and Arts (SEA) -- a public STEM magnet school in the Robbinsdale MN school district.  For the past three years I have coordinated our FIRST LEGO League Jr. teams at SEA.  This year, I am going to try something different and start a Code Club to give our 5th graders a place to come learn and share code.  Part of that will include introducing them to some of the hardware platforms out there.

     

    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?

     

    I plan to incorporate hardware into our learning to show how hardware and software work together and to show that you do not need a large computer to write and implement meaningful code.

  • My name is Marco and I am writing from Italy (I am from Milan and now I live in Perugia). I am the founder of the local CoderDojo and co-founder of HappyNet, a project dedicated to summer schools, digital campus, courses for children and kids to emprove digital and programming skills. I already made courses about programming with Scratch and about robotics with mBot, Ozobot and Arduino.

    I'd like to use micro:bits mostly to introduce the theme of "Internet of Things" to my young innovators.

  • Hi, I am a 6th grade Math and Science teacher in Arkansas. This is my 9th year to teach. I am new to using micro:bits, but was able to become familiar with them this summer while doing some professional development for computer science.

     

    I would use  them in my math and science classroom to include lots of STEM activities. I think it would be a great way to show how they can incorporate coding into math and science. Our students need to be introduced to the great world of technology on a daily basis. They have to be prepared for a future that will revolve around many jobs based on some sort of technology.

  • My name is Kristin Sommer and I am a school librarian at an K-5 school in New York. Our students love STEAM, especially coding and robotics. We are hoping that we can create a robotics program and ultimately enter the RoboRave competition with the robots we have built. Regardless, building a robot will help our students become 21st century learners and boost student engagement.

  • Hi, I'm a volunteer at Kippax North Infant and Primary school, Leeds, England.

    I have an interest in electronics and tinkering. These micro:bits may just spark the interest of makers and hackers of the future.

  • Hi, my name is Magdalena. I run programming and robotic clubs in rural parts of Switzerland, mostly with socially disadvantaged students, for whom it is often the first contact with STEM at all. With microbits I would be able to give some more options to children who are to choose the next level schools (12-13 y.o.) as well as an apprenticeship (13-14 y.o.). We work mostly with Scratch or Blockly, try Arduino or Raspberry. Projects like Lego Mindstorms or microbit, or MakeyMakey help the students fight for a better school, believe in their skills and competency.

     

    Thank you and good luck everyone!

  • Hello.

    My name is Harald Bem.

    I'm a STEM educator from Poland. I teach robotics in few primary schools and in may own workshops.

    At this moment basicly I'm using LEGO WeDo and Minstorms.

    But I'm trying to introduce Arduino to my students as well.

    I believe micro:bit can be a great opportunity to show them not-like-lego STEM systems.

  • I am hoping to be in the draw for the microbits because my son has been teaching our local cub troup IT skills..he has taken 10 cubs through the Digital Maker Badge. My son was 12 at the time. He has been attending a Coder dojo locally for the past 4 years and a mentor for the past 2 years. He is a scout and every week he helps out at cubs. If we were to win the microbits he would be able to start a mor advanced project with the Cubs which they don’t currently have the opportunity to use at primary school.