My First Encounter with micro:bit
Spoiler: IT ROCKED!
It’s not often that my mind is blown by something that I’ve known about for eons. Today was a major exception.
I’m very familiar with the idea of the micro:bit. I’ve seen them in action and connected them in my mind to similar pieces of hardware. If you’ve done the same, stop it. Seriously, STOP IT RIGHT NOW. Until you’ve had the opportunity to play with one of these suckers, you have no idea how user-friendly it is.
In my latest video, I timed myself taking everything out of the box, inspecting it, setting it up, and writing/downloading my first program. The entire process took less than 20 minutes. And trust me, it has NOTHING to do with the fact that I’ve coded before. In fact, the interface is so simple, I made an entire program using just a couple of blocks from the first category.
Watch the video if you don’t believe me. I was truly blown away. What’s more, I challenged each of my kids to figure out the micro:bit on their own and they had no problems. In fact, my 13-year-old was so drawn in, he kept going with his creation even after I dismissed him; actively postponing his Fortnite time to try “one more program”.
I could go on and on, but I won’t. Instead, I’ll encourage you to get your hands on one of these addictive little buggers and give it a shot. Class projects will flood into your mind for weeks!
P.S. This video was not sponsored or even requested. I just liked the darn thing that much.
