TeenTech are delighted to be one of the partners for Make It Digital – the BBC’s biggest initiative since the Olympic games!
2015 is the year the BBC is aiming to inspire a new generation to get creative with coding, programming and digital technology. There will be a raft of initiatives and interventions ranging from content across TV and radio to the BBC Dr Who coding games to the BBC Bitesize online resources to support the learning of computing.
The idea is to use the collective power not only of the BBC but companies and organisations who are already working hard to help young people get creative and understand the opportunities in the digital world.
It aligns perfectly with our our core objectives and we are very much enjoying providing our support and resources for the campaign.
The launch took place at Central St Martins today and our CEO Maggie Philbin joined BBC Director General Tony Hall and Ian Livingstone onstage to discuss the exciting plans.
These include:
- A major partnership to develop and give 1 million ‘Micro Bit’ coding devices to all year 7 children across the UK for free to inspire a future generation.
- A season of programmes and online activity involving the BBC’s biggest and best-loved brands, including Doctor Who, EastEnders, Radio 1, The One Show, Children in Need, BBC Weather and many more, including a new drama based on Grand Theft Auto and a documentary on Bletchley Park.
- The Make it Digital Traineeship to create life-changing opportunities for up to 5,000 young unemployed people, the largest traineeship of its kind.
- Partnerships with around 50 major organisations across the UK, including Apps for Good, ARM, Barclays, British Computing Society, BT, Code Club, DWP, Google, iDEA, Microsoft, Nesta, Samsung, Skills Funding Agency, Tech City UK, the Tech Partnership, TeenTech, Young Rewired State. It’s just fantastic to see so many TeenTech partners and friends in the mix. It’s a very exciting opportunity to amplify and co-ordinate some very special initiatives.
- A range of formal education activities and events, including Bitesize, Live Lessons and School Report.
Tony Hall, BBC Director-General, said: “This is exactly what the BBC is all about – bringing the industry together on an unprecedented scale and making a difference to millions. Just as we did with the BBC Micro in the 1980s, we want to inspire the digital visionaries of the future. Only the BBC can bring partners together to attempt something this ambitious, this important to Britain’s future on the world stage.
“BBC Make it Digital could help digital creativity become as familiar and fundamental as writing, and I’m truly excited by what Britain, and future great Britons, can achieve.”
It’s going to be a very exciting year!
The full press release from the BBC can be found here :