My name is Laura Jones, and I am the founder and director of a large network of STEM clubs for girls: GEMS: Girls Excelling in Math and Science. www.gemsclub.org. I have been running these clubs for almost 25 years. We were STEM when STEM wasn't cool :-)

In the poor rural county I live in, we have 16 GEMS clubs, serving about 250 girls, and I would really like to be able to offer the girls a more challenging environment in which to code. We have been eyeing micro:bits, but have not gotten a sufficient amount of funding to buy them. This Club Pack would be the starter set, from which I could demonstrate that we could learn to use them and ask for more.  I think that the whole idea of a powerful small computer that is easy to get into children's hands is super--we need to take the fear out of Computer Science for all kids. If we are one of the winners, I can see us learning to control smart phones and creating games and other useful applications. Thank you for your consideration.

Rather than have to pick and choose who gets the Microbit kits, why not make it so affordable, that anyone who really wants it can pay for it?  You need to flood the market and these kits will end up in the right places.  We buy Arduino's from China for so little, it is crazy. That is one thing that makes it so easy to work with. The Arduino IDE, and support for the programming and interface is unparalleled.   Many of the people who would buy these kits, would be a source for information, and create forums for users. Make it affordable, and get it out there. If it's good, it will proliferate the market. If it isn't, it will go away.

Hi, I run weekly science co-op classes for the one of the homeschooling groups. We explore everything & this will be a great opportunity to introduce microbit/programming to the families.

We have abt 10-13 families usually, about 10-13 adults with 20 - 25 kids each time round. Our children’s age group is between 3-12years old because we encourages open learning without levels & encourages the parents to learn at the same time ... therefore, the 10 sets will be a good start.

Will push me to learn very quickly more about coding so I can introduce it to them or asked another parent who is an expert in that field to help the class.

I think this is a great start to introduce coding /programming to the homeschooling community.

Do give us a chance so we can provide more for them.

Thx & all the best for everyone else too!

Hi

I must win so obviously this will be the best posting on the whole competition.

I already run a code club and have been for the past 4 years.  I have purchased a range of resources such as Pi-Top Ceeds, Move:Minis, Inventors Kits, LEDs, Breadboards, Breakout boards, Monk Makes resources.

All this equipment helps make CS an inclusive, accessible, engaging and most importantly fun subject. It brings out the social side of CS.  I firmly believe in the creative side and letting all children be makers.

Please send me goodies!

Hello Everyone!

we are "Associazione Super Channel", a no profit association based in Italy.

We would like to organize some free courses to introduce kids and teens to electonics.

Hope you like our proposal and support us with a kit!

Best Regards,

Marco Sessa (Associazione Super Channel Founder)

Hi, I'm Julian,

and I'm in the process of starting a Makerspace and education centre in the Comox valley of Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. My background as an educator spans being a high school tutor, teaching assistant for computer science, physics, and electronics during my University studies in New Zealand, teaching English in Japan, and organizing and hosting lunch and learn and study groups at most places I've been an employee. I've already starting building bridges with the local education system, community centre, library, and have run sessions with all of them- from hands on coding with Minecraft, Arduino, to using CAD. I'm also Dad to three kids, who are in a school program where they are home-schooled one or two days a week.

I would use these micro:bits and accessories to accelerate our ability to bring embedded programming to people of all ages- both though formal classes for kids, through to introductory meetups and "lunch and learns" for groups of adults. There's a surprising number of grown-ups that want to make LEDs blink, and are just intimidated by the field. I hope our venue will become somewhere that naturally encourages cross pollination of ideas and skills between different interest groups and ages. With the plethora of excellent tutorials and learning materials for the micro:bit on the web, it will be easy for us to get started. For more advanced classes my goal is to build the price of a micro:bit into the cost structure so that students can take them home with them and continue experimenting and learning; we want to be a bridge to knowledge, and not a gatekeeper of access. I'd like the more advances classes to be student-project focused, and allow them to learn about embedding electronics in their creations, and use fabrication methods such as sewing, wood working, 3D printing, CNC, laser cutting, etc.

Judges, you have my sympathies; I think you're going to have a tough time choosing from all these excellent programme ideas!

Good luck everyone!

Hello, here is Ivan. I am an electronics engineer who will be teaching at a master degree for first time. I work in a research center for the last 11 years in batteryless wireless sensing applications and have enrolled for teaching. I have prepared some visualizations such as https://iarakistain.github.io/Tactizity.github.io/Ardrone/#16.5/43.2113/-2.410213/-177.6/45 (more can be found in https://www.tactizity.com/ ) so that students can get fast into getting the point to wireless sensing applications.

If I am chosen, I will use the Microbits so that students can cooperate and build an IOT application together. I am also thinking to use a drone an mount some sensors on it. The master degree is mainly focused to industrial applications, so I will also give then some clues about automation and preventive maintenance. Hope you like my proposal and we can get the most of those Microbits!

Good luck everybody!

Hello, I am an elementary/middle school librarian. I have taught this age level student for the past 30 years in the language arts field and now in the library media field. Though the eyes of a librarian, my teaching has changed dramatically over the last ten years! Money is no longer used to solely purchase books, but equipment & tools to help create 21st century global thinkers. I am now a facilitator more than a teacher, my library is no longer a place just to read & check out books! It is a place for students to become inventors & thinkers not just doers. What an awesome opportunity you are offering some lucky winner! A chance for more students to become creative in small group settings or as individuals ! A chance I hope my students get if I am chosen - one to exercise their creativeness & use the resources to solve problems cooperatively & collaboratively in their curriculum during regular school as well as in our after school programs. We are ready to connect, program, download, and play!

Hello, my name is Sandy Coleman, and I am a K-5 Related Arts Computer Lab Teacher.  I am entering my 9th year of teaching and have been working hard to transform my lab into a Maker/Hacker/Tinkering space with a heavy emphasis on Computer Science and coding. One of my favorite resources is Scratch and ScratchJr.  This year I want to give my students more choice and am going to set up stations.  One of those stations, I would love to have is a microbits station.  I have two microbits that I have purchased but need more.  I also am very excited that Scratch 3.0 will have a microbit extension.   

Additionally, I facilitate an afterschool club at my school which is an extension of what I do in the class, but it gives the students the opportunity and the time to dive deeper into coding and is entirely driven by student interest.

Thank you and good luck to everyone!

Hello!

So happy my husband sent this to me. Currently, I teach middle school special education. I have students that come to me and some I go out and help in the general classes. The school is a Title 1 recipient in rural South Carolina. We are about an hour east of Charleston. My students live mostly on farms or just out in the country. They have very limited exposure to technology of this type. We lost our robotics team teacher last year when he retired. I am picking up the baton and trying to muddle my way through. Fortunately I am married to a solutions architect and have some help for the extreme technology if its needed.

I plan to implement either another class for our school or an after school program for coding. The electives are limited as the school does not receive a ton of taxes due to the nature of the community. I am leaning more towards the elective course if allowed. Our principal is very supportive of finding ways to add 21st century skills to our curriculum. I may be able to co-teach with another teacher, I am science certified too. The ideas and possibilities are just starting to bloom. I am very excited to see who is selected.

Good luck to all of you too!

F Felice