BBC Microbit: Week 8 Reflection

This week, another open exploration week, I unboxed my BBC Microbit and played around with some of the coding exercises for Python.  I really like the way that I can practice different coding languages, such as JavaScript and Python with one device!  My favorite lesson so far was this one, where I was able to connect a speaker to my Microbit with alligator clips and play music.  I attempted to complete the Dalek Poetry activity, but I couldn't get it work.

Paper Circuit Triggered Microbit

I also couldn't get the Bluetooth feature to work on my device (I just learned that it's not compatible with Python yet), so the process of uploading the code was a bit cumbersome.
Instead of using the Microsoft iPad app as I'd planned,  I ended up having to drag and drop the code from the downloads folder on my PC onto the device, as if it were a flash drive. Aside from that minor annoyance, it was a fun way to get instant gratification while playing with code.

I found an animated book making project that allowed me to tweak some code to create different animations on my Microbit that were triggered by copper traces in a book touching different pin configurations.  It works in principle, as you can see in the video below.

Here are a couple of screenshots.

I'm running a little short on time this week, so this is where my exploration needs to stop for now. Next time I play with this, I'm going to check out a few of these lessons.  I think that everyone learning the basics of coding should have a Microbit, because you can immediately practice physical coding.