ICT Programming - Make the right choice

If you are unsure what programming language(s) to teach, you cannot make a better choice than BBC BASIC.  Here are some key features:

The Original and Best

BBC BASIC was specified and adopted by the British Broadcasting Corporation for its groundbreaking Computer Literacy Project of the early 1980s.  Since then it has been updated and extended to ensure it remains relevant in the 21st century.  It is suitable for teaching programming at all levels, including Junior, Secondary and GCSE.

Recommended by OCR

Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations recommends BBC BASIC.  This is what they say about their J275 Computing GCSE: 'Unit A451 may contain questions in a generic pseudo code that looks a lot like BBC BASIC, e.g. BBC BASIC for Windows, or PASCAL.... all tasks have been tested in VB.NET and BBC BASIC for Windows to make sure they are suitable'.  You can read the full document here:

http://social.ocr.org.uk/files/ocr/GCSE_Computing_J275_Centre_Crib_Sheet_180112.doc

In Good Company

BBC BASIC is taught in some of the top schools in the country.  There is a closed user group for ICT Teachers at which you can share experiences, seek help or advice, learn about developments and pool resources such as curriculum materials:

http://groups.google.com/group/bbc-basic-ict

Multi Platform

The main implementations currently available are BBC BASIC for Windows (for Microsoft Windows), Brandy BASIC (for Linux and MacOS) and ARM BASIC (for RISC OS and Raspberry Pi, and potentially for mobile platforms such as smartphones and tablets):

http://www.bbcbasic.net/

Affordable

Brandy Basic and ARM BASIC are Open Source.  BBC BASIC for Windows is available as a free trial version, which is adequate for many purposes, or you can purchase a multi-user site licence, which also entitles you to free updates. For example a licence for 35 simultaneous users costs only £155.

To place an order, or to receive further information, please contact me at the address below.

Kind regards,

Richard Russell.

R. T. Russell, 228 Broomhill, Downham Market, Norfolk, PE38 9QY
Tel: 01366 386281  Fax:  01366 387486  Email: info@rtrussell.co.uk