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This summer, the young reporters received a small package: a glowing component and a data cable. Upon opening it, we see that the front of the component has two buttons and a 5×5 grid of glowing dots. The back has some complex circuits and chips, while the side has two interfaces—this is the material package needed for the “Little Programmer” vocational experience class.
During the holiday, the young reporters met online and learned about micro:bit from Teacher He Xuechen from Shanghai University of Electric Power, stepping into the role of “Little Programmers”.
The young reporters followed Teacher He’s instructions diligently.
The young reporters assembled electronic components.
Before the course began, Teacher He played some introductory videos on simple artificial intelligence program design in the online classroom. In the videos, students used the micro:bit hardware and related software to create automatic access control systems that could measure temperature and disinfect, pet care machines that could feed pets on a schedule, and garage management systems that could intelligently divert traffic based on flow. Teacher He mentioned that these program designs might soon appear in everyone’s lives. The young reporters developed a strong interest in programming and the mysterious micro:bit system.
According to Teacher He, micro:bit is a microcomputer development board designed for youth programming education, launched by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). It is based on the Python language and can receive instructions through various channels. With just one main board, multiple program effects can be achieved. Compared to Python, micro Python can be based on micro:bit, allowing programs to manifest on the board, making it even more fun.
The young reporters listened attentively.
The young reporters used programming to design a smiley face pattern.
The course was structured from easy to difficult, with increasing code length, leading to the final challenge of the “Sad Pet”. Young reporter Yuan Ziqin, upon discovering that the program did not work correctly on the first upload, searched online and modified and debugged it according to the teacher’s previous explanations. After clicking “upload”, the desired effect appeared on the board. Young reporter Su Yueqi designed a pet program that initially displayed a crying face and the word “sad”; after pressing the A key, it changed to a smiley face, and after pressing the B key, it displayed the text “I’m happy now” along with a smiley face. She simulated an electronic pet with her program, indicating that pets need human care and companionship. Young reporter Fan Hengye faced challenges such as program errors and startup failures during the process; although he did not achieve the joy of success, he gained the experience of writing lines of code through continuous attempts and challenges.
In just two hours, the young reporters experienced the ever-changing nature of programming, completely altering their rigid impression of programming as difficult and confusing. Teacher He’s professional, detailed, and patient teaching allowed everyone to feel the endless fun of micro:bit. Young reporter Nan Runqing felt, “Through this little programmer experience class, I realized that to be an excellent programmer, one needs strong learning abilities, practical skills, the ability to handle pressure, and the capability to solve problems independently, as well as keep up with technological trends to avoid being eliminated by society.”
China’s chip technology is increasingly advanced
Perhaps the teenagers learning programming now
Will be the country’s programmers in the future?
Young reporters Zhang Hongyu, Yuan Ziqin, Fan Hengye, Lin Junzhuo
Luojiahua, Chen Yiyao, Nan Runqing, Su Yueqi
Text by Yang Jialu, Wang Zihan
Edited by Xing Yanzi
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Published by the editorial department of “Youth Daily”
Volume One of the Youth Media Literacy Education Series
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