This years creator fair coincided nicely with the launch of the
BBC micro:bit so what better excuse than to pack up some PCs, some boards and accessories and let people get stuck in with the coding?
We took working samples of our own projects that we've created as
tutorials, as well as a few boards with a selection of LEDs and other components for people to have a go with. If that initial weekend of end user experience was anything to go by, the BBC micro:bit is going to be a big hit. I spoke to one family who said they were really keen to get their young son (year 5) involved in coding, so we sat him down for a go. As I was explaining how to use the block editor I quickly realised he had already picked it up himself, and was busily exploring the various options for the 5 x 5 LED display.
And that certainly wasn't the exception for the weekend. We had kids connecting LEDs and sensors, and and really getting to grips with the block editor.
We showed the Touch Develop editor to an ICT teacher who bemoaned the fact that early on in their coding education so much resource was spent correcting students syntax. With Touch Develop the editor pre-empts syntax errors with very helpful messages such as "It seems you're missing a '
)', try adding it.
" He said that this could save hours of his time, and let the kids get on with the fun part of coding. We also took our team memory game with us, which debuted earlier this year at the Maker Faire. It's based on the same principle as our memory game, but on a grander scale. Once again it proved a great hit, but with the top scorer so far being 14 out of 16, it remains unbeaten!
If you're in the East Midlands and you want to see the BBC micro:bit in action yourself or take on the team memory game. then we'll be at the Derby Mini Maker Faire on Saturday the 24th October, hope to see you there!
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