The micro:bit was first introduced in the United Kingdom and quickly spread throughout Europe and the world. This case study explored how the micro:bit was used in Norway to expand how coding and making (or tinkering) could be used in the classroom. The study recognized the necessity of exploring further use of the micro:bit in primary and secondary learning environments.
Abstract:
This paper discusses two pilot projects in Art and design education at the teacher training at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences. In the second round of drafts for the new curriculum of Art and design digital knowledge is described as stretching from using simple digital resources to master and shape your own digital products. It is no longer limited to two-dimensional visual modelling as previously drafted. This is in our view a new approach in a subject where making, tinkering and designing allows for explorations in both 2D and 3D. Given that we want to encourage the use of the digital together with the use of physical materials, the pilot case studies demonstrate the importance of bringing coding and the material aspects of tinkering, making, and creating into play. The BBC Micro:bit was used to make coding and mechanical control part of projects made with traditional material. Further research and development should be undertaken to bring such practices into classrooms in primary and lower secondary schools.
Digranes, I., Hoem, J. Ø., & Stenersen, A. L. (2021). Learning about materiality through tinkering with Micro:bits. FORMakademisk, 14(4), 1–13. https://doi-org.lib.pepperdine.edu/10.7577/formakademisk.4636
Abstract:
Technology educators often provide activities where pupils design programmed technological solutions (PTS) with various programming materials for developing pupils’ technological knowledge related to PTS and digital technology. However, few studies have investigated how pupils experience these activities. To fill this gap in knowledge, this phenomenographic study explores how pupils experience designing a PTS using BBC Micro:bit and identifies the technological knowledge these pupils need, in terms of critical aspects (i.e., aspects necessary to discern), to successfully solve a real-world task—the design and coding of a burglar alarm. The data were gathered from sketches, interviews, and video-recordings of pupils aged 10 and 14. This study shows that the pupils struggled with two intertwined phenomena during the activity: the dual nature of the PTS (i.e., the structure and function) and the BBC Micro:bit material. The findings indicated that the pupils needed to understand what components to use based on their function and how to organise these components so they interacted with a code that used feedback control. That is, the pupils needed to code a conditional statement by combining blocks in the BBC Micro:bit editor. To produce working code, the pupils needed to know what the blocks represent, where to find the blocks in the editor, and how to interpret the shapes of the blocks. The results have implications for teaching technological knowledge, suggesting an importance of addressing these phenomena and critical aspects with respect to developing pupils’ conceptual and procedural knowledge related to designing PTS with BBC Micro:bit
Cederqvist, A.-M. (2020). An exploratory study of technological knowledge when pupils are designing a programmed technological solution using BBC Micro:bit. International Journal of Technology & Design Education, 1–27. https://doi-org.lib.pepperdine.edu/10.1007/s10798-020-09618-6
In this study from Sweden, the research explored how the micro:bit could be used to further programmed technological solutions (PTS) into the curriculum. The idea of PTS is similar to that of that of computational thinking and how physical computing is used in the classroom environment.
The findings of the study show that students can use a visual environment, such as that of Makecode, to help solve advanced problems while at the same time not fully understanding how they work. For a PTS curriculum to work, the researchers discovered that students need to have a firm understanding of procedural and concept knowledge, specifically what programming blocks do and where to find them.
Below are examples from both youTube and Twitter as well as Wakelet feeds to showcase teacher and student work with the micro:bit.
Micro:bit Automatic Plant Watering System
Using a vernier pH sensor with the micro:bit
Using the micro:bit along with the Makerbit board to do a presentation
Yes you can: go from 0 to 3 projects and the encouragement to go further.