BBC to Bring Coding to U.K. Schools With New Micro:Bit Computer
- ARM, NXP, Nordic Semiconductor provide chips for device
- BBC plans to distribute 1 million micro:bits in STEM push
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A generation of British school children who came of age in the 1980s remember learning simple programming on the BBC Microcomputer, a personal computer distributed by the government broadcaster to instill passion for technology.
Now the BBC is seeking to do the same thing for a new generation of British youngsters with a new, pocket-size device, the BBC micro:bit, which it begins distributing to 11 and 12 year-olds today. The BBC eventually plans to distribute one million micro:bits to U.K. schools to help teach coding and inspire interest in so-called STEM subjects: science, technology, engineering and mathematics.