I will be teaching high school students CS Discoveries with a Focus on Coding for the 2024-2025 school year. I am currently trying to figure out which devices to purchase for the App Lab. The maker page has some information, but does not provide a comparison of the devices. What are the pros and cons of both devices in terms of capability, reliability, and integration with code.org’s software?
For me, I think the biggest differences are that the Circuit Playgrounds are more colorful (colored LEDs), but the Microbits have a lot more outside resources (outside of code.org) that can be leveraged for different purposes as they are used worldwide for a variety of different students in different classes. I think you just get more bang for your buck.
If you are using them just for the code.org curriculum, get the Circuit Playgrounds, but Microbits are a bit more versatile. Also, the microbits typically come with a battery pack so you can download the program to them and then use them on the go. You can get that for the Circuit Playgrounds, but it is an added expense.
CP’s were the first ones used by code.org so the curriculum for them may be a bit more robust on code.org, but code.org does now have curriculum for microbits as well. Just my 2 cents.
Mike
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