Course Overview

As part of these tutorials you will learn to work with the BBC micro:bit using the Raspberry Pi. The Raspberry Pi is a small but powerful SBC (Single Board Computer) that costs ~60 AUD. You can learn more about the Raspberry Pi by taking courses listed at the following link – https://learning.kidzcancode.com/courses/all/electronics/.  This track provides access to the micro:bit tutorials provided by the Raspberry Pi foundation. Some of these tutorials also make use of the makecode block based coding platform to write your code. These tutorials will help you build upon the knowledge gained coding with Scratch.

This is an advanced micro:bit coding track but a beginners electronics track. We would highly recommend that you complete the following tracks before you start off with this track.

1. Introduction to coding concepts with Scratch I
2. Introduction to coding concepts with Scratch II
3. Exploring coding concepts using the BBC micro:bit – I
4. Exploring coding concepts using the BBC micro:bit – II
5. Introduction to electronics using the BBC micro:bit – I
6. Introduction to electronics using the BBC micro:bit – II

Prerequisites –

1. This development track makes use of the BBC micro:bit. If you haven’t purchased a BBC micro:bit yet you might want to head over and pick one up now.
2. We would recommend that you pick up the BBC micro:bit, BBC micro:bit breakout board and a breadboard.
3. This development track also requires use of the Rasbperry Pi.
4. The BBC micro:bit breakout board and breadboard makes working with the BBC micro:bit a lot easier.
5. We will be using the Mu Python editor including the official BBC Makecode Block editor to write code for all our tutorials.

About BBC micro:bit

The Micro Bit (also referred to as BBC Micro Bit, stylised as micro:bit) is an ARM-based embedded system designed by the BBC for use in computer education in the UK. The board is 4 cm × 5 cm and has an ARM Cortex-M0 processor, accelerometer and magnetometer sensors, Bluetooth and USB connectivity, a display consisting of 25 LEDs, two programmable buttons, and can be powered by either USB or an external battery pack. The device inputs and outputs are through five ring connectors that are part of the 23-pin edge connector at the bottom of the board. The micro:bit can be programmed using the Microsoft Block code program editor which is similar to the block based language Scratch ideal for 7-12 year olds. The micro:bit can also be programmed using the Makecode editor in Javascript and Python which allows for older kids to learn the Javascript and Python programming language using the micro:bit.

You can read more about the BBC micro:bit at the microbit website. Also see Kitronik’s resources here – Parents Complete Guide To The BBC micro:bit.