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Foundation reports

Super:bit

Norway

Over the next several years, the micro:bit is undergoing a national roll-out in Norway through the Super:bit project.

Norwegian children celebrating Super:bit

Celebrating the launch of Super:bit

After a hugely successful pilot programme across 4 science centres in 2018, the programme is now being rolled out to every school in Norway.

The initiative is supported by Lær Kidsa Koding who run the 10 science centres throughout Norway, along with the national broadcaster NRK. The programme has been funded by DNB National Savings Bank Foundation. It is organised nationally by Inspiria.

Programme design, content and training materials

The goal of the Super:bit programme is to reach all schools in Norway and train at least two teachers per school across the 'intermediate stage' grades 5 – 7 (ages 9 – 12).

It will introduce all children to coding, computing and computational thinking concepts under the themes of 'smart cities'. There is a clear focus on integrating computational thinking and programming as a holistic practice rather than confined to technology projects or lessons.

The core concepts covered will include logic, evaluation, algorithms, patterns, decomposition and abstraction, through the practices of tinkering, creating, debugging and collaborating.

Impact and results

The science centre teams are capturing statistics for the whole country by doing an evaluation before, during and after workshops. Surveys are used to generate feedback from each pupil and teacher. Some of the early findings suggest:

  • Most teachers in the ‘intermediate stage’ (teaching children aged 9 – 12) have never done any programming, though some specialists in science or maths may have some expertise
  • All sessions are split evenly between boys and girls and early observations there is no difference in ability or interest between them
  • Most of the children have never done any programming before but of those who have, they are usually boys
  • There seems to be a perception among students that coding is “for boys”

Aims for 2020-2021

The ambitious programme is well underway to deliver the below aims:

  • 120,000 pupils aged 11-12 get a 2 hour educational program
  • 10,000 teachers get a 3 hour training program
  • 2,400 schools recieve kits with micro:bit and accessories - there are 2400 schools in Norway have 6th grade (age 11 – 12) and the programme aims to reach all of them within two years