The BBC today revealed more details about plans to equip U.K. school children with Micro:bit PCs, which are coding devices that teach programming and digital technology.
The Micro:bit will arrive in schools by late October so teachers have an opportunity to add the gadgets into their lesson plans, the BBC said. The move—part of the BBC's new Make it Digital nationwide initiative to inspire the next generation of developers—will give a micro computer to every child in year 7 (the equivalent of sixth grade)—up to 1 million Micro:bits by year's end.
According to the BBC, the country is in danger of a "significant skills shortage" over the next five years. So with the Micro:bit, the network is resurrecting an old standard: the BBC Micro, which helped Britain come to grips with the first wave of personal computers in the 1980s.
The BBC is teaming up with partners like ARM, Barclays, Freescale, Microsoft, Samsung, and more.
Microsoft developed the device's Web-based coding environment, a version of its TouchDevelop. The Micro:bits and anything written for them will be hosted via Microsoft Azure, and Microsoft also supplied two coding languages: the text-based Microsoft TouchDevelop; and Microsoft Blocks, a graphical coding language.
"The Microsoft TouchDevelop Web app holds all the code editors built for the BBC Micro:bit, runs the Micro:bit simulator, sends the code to the ARM compiler and brings back the compiled files to be sent to the Micro:bit," the BBC said. "Microsoft has also brought in a number of learning resource providers to supply learning resources, and producing a getting started guide for teachers and students."
The Micro:bit runs mbed hardware from ARM, which also had a hand in the BBC Micro effort.
"The BBC and Acorn Computers, where ARM technology was first created, came together 35 years ago to develop the BBC Micro and that inspired the engineers now at the forefront of shaping our increasingly connected world," Simon Segars, CEO of ARM, said in a statement. "The new BBC Micro:bit has even greater potential because it can inspire boys and girls toward a career in technology at a time of unprecedented demand for science and engineering skills across all areas of the global economy."
Freescale, meanwhile, will supply the sensors and USB controllers, while Samsung is working to connect the Micro:bit to phones and tablets, and developing an Android app.