Extend Your micro:bit with Elecfreaks

If you’re looking to teach your beginner students about coding, micro:bit is a great tool for engaging students and building computational thinking. For older students, combining micro:bits with Elecfreaks challenges students and expands coding into hands-on engineering and circuitry. This combination helps prepare students for future technology careers.

What is micro:bit?

micro:bit is a programmable microcomputer. Students program it using an online coding platform and then download the code onto the micro:bit. It’s compatible with block coding and several different programming languages like Python, C++, and Scratch. Since micro:bits are compatible with so many different programming languages and platforms, they are a beginner-friendly tool for students in elementary school.

Expand Learning with Elecfreaks Kits

As students get older, they need more challenges that are relevant to real-world skills and careers. Elecfreaks kits connect coding to engaging projects like building a two-wheeled car with the Smart Cutebot kit. These kits are reusable, affordable, and compatible with other kits. To get started teaching your students about how coding powers our world, the Elecfreaks micro:bit Starter Kit comes with a circuit board and basic electronic components like LEDs, switches, and sensors. For help or lesson inspiration, the Elecfreaks Wiki has plenty of helpful resources to build your confidence with circuitry, even if you’re a complete beginner to the world of STEM.

Build Coding and Engineering Skills Through Hands-On Projects

Using the Elecfreaks micro:bit Starter Kit, students learn how to assemble a simple electronic circuit by connecting a micro:bit to a breadboard using the adapter. Then, they attach LEDs, resistors, and jumper wires to the board. Using Microsoft MakeCode, students can write a basic program that makes the LEDs blink. Along the way, students learn fundamental concepts like circuits, coding, and debugging, creating a strong connection between programming and engineering.

Challenge Students to Go Beyond the Basics

With Elecfreaks kits, students go beyond the basics of coding. Students learn the advanced capabilities of micro:bits by adding sensors, buttons, lights, and motors. Educators can challenge older students using the same tools that younger students use. The kits allow students to work with real-world technology and solve real-world problems, like building a smart house or smart car. These open-ended challenges promote creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving while keeping older students engaged.

Turning Coding into Real-World Learning

Elecfreaks kits transform the micro:bit from a coding device to an opportunity to learn electrical engineering. Students build computational thinking and problem-solving skills while developing solutions relevant to our technology-based world. The kits are inexpensive and work with the micro:bits your program already has. For older students, these skills are crucial to a future STEM career, and many of the kits directly connect to careers in engineering and computer science.

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