Lancaster University presented with UK’s highest education honour by King and Queen

Lancaster University has been presented with a Queen Elizabeth Prize for Education by their Majesties the King and Queen.

It was collected by Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Rebecca Lingwood, Pro-Chancellor the Rt Hon Alistair Burt and Professor Joe Finney on the university’s behalf, at an award ceremony in St James’s Palace in London.

The award recognises the contribution of Lancaster University’s computing researchers in the creation and development of the BBC micro:bit, a small programmable computer used to aid digital literacy in children.

The micro:bit was first created a decade ago by a BBC-led consortium that consisted predominantly of technology companies, with Lancaster University as the sole academic institution involved in its development. The university is credited for its development of software, the device’s coding experience and for delivering hardware.

Launched in 2015, alongside the accompanying non-profit brand the Micro:bit Educational Foundation, it has been estimated that the Micro:bit has been used to help 70 million children across 85 countries develop skills in coding and and technology- the equivalent of two per cent of children across the globe.

via Wikimedia Commons

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The Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Education recognise outstanding work at the highest level in UK universities and colleges across a range of disciplines, as part of the UK national honours system. They have been granted by the Monarch on advice of the Prime Minister every two years since 1994, following a rigorous process of independent review.

The university attended the ceremony at the palace amongst a group of 19 prize-winning institutions. Its delegation consisted of three School of Computing and Communications researchers who worked on the Micro:bit’s development: Professor Joe Finney, Professor Steve Hodges and Dr James Devine, as well as five other researchers who have used the Micro:bit in their work.

Professor Joe Finney, who led the creation of the device’s run-time operating system, said: “It is truly fantastic to see Lancaster’s work recognised for its contribution to society in this way. It represents the dedication and work of so many people over the past ten years to go from a conceptual idea to a creative, educational platform that’s inspiring millions of students worldwide. I’m very much looking forward to seeing what the Micro:bit can achieve in the next 10 years.”

Fellow researcher Professor Steve Hodges, who has worked on the device since its early stages of development, said: “This award recognises the work of a great many talented and dedicated people who have provided a wide range of skills and perspectives over the past decade. We’re particularly grateful to our colleagues at the Micro:bit Educational Foundation for their continued dedication to supporting adoption of the Micro:bit around the world.”

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Featured image via YouTube