I have tested today the BETA MakeCode for the micro:bit. You can put on the Keyboard control in the Options. There is also an option to put on an other Colour Theme if your students prefer other colours.
I tried it this afternoon and offcourse a took me a while to get used to the keys, but I am sure my students (from the Royal Visio – a school for visual impaired students) are able to use them.
Some important Short Keys
- CONTROL B – You can pick with 1,2,3,4 and 5 a area to work in
- ARROWS – You will move around
- TABS – You can navigate
- SHIFT TAB – you can make bigger steps
- ENTER – Yes I want that block
- SPACE – Yes I want that block
- CONTROL / – You will get all a list of all the short keys
- T – Open the blocks to pick from (the toolbox)
- W – go to the workspace
- DELETE – Delete a block
- SEARCH – Will be very useful to look for a block
Documentation
There is documentation on the MakeCode website to find all the shortkeys and this will also work in the javascript and python editor.
Happy
I am so happy that we can use keyboard navigation for our students. In the micro:bit lessons they can also make their own code. Even if it will take them a bit longer. It is not perfect yet, but I am sure we are getting there.
