Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


Google Gives 15,000 Raspberry Pi Computer Boards to UK Students

The Raspberry Pi Model B computer board
The Raspberry Pi Model B computer board

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has received a grant from Google Giving to provide students in the United Kingdom with 15,000 Raspberry Pi Model B computer boards for learning to program.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a charitable organization in the UK that develops the credit-card sized ARM processor-based computer boards. Students can connect an SD memory card, keyboard, mouse, and display, and then install Linux and learn to program the devices.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation, Google, and six UK educational partners will work together to identify the students who will receive the Raspberry Pi devices. The educational partners are CoderDojo, Code Club, Computing at School, Generating Genius, Teach First, and OCR.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation already offers a free Raspberry Pi Education Manual from Computing at School, which guides students through the process of learning to program the devices using the Scratch and Python programming languages, as well as how to use the Linux command line interface. As part of the Google Giving program, OCR will be creating 15,000 free teaching and learning packs to accompany the devices.

"This is a brilliant way for us to find kids all over the country whose aptitude for computing can now be explored properly," wrote a Raspberry Pi Foundation representative in a blog post. "We believe that access to tools is a fundamental necessity in finding out who you are and what you're good at. We want those tools to be within everybody's grasp, right from the start."

The Raspberry Pi devices are available in two models. The grant from Google will provide students with the higher-end Model B devices, which include 512 MB of RAM, two USB ports, and an Ethernet port. The Model A devices include 256 MB of RAM, one USB port, and no Eithernet port.

Further information about the Raspberry Pi computer boards can be found on the Raspberry Pi Foundation's site.

About the Author

Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • abstract smartphone translucent screen displaying AI interface

    Apple Unveils Redesigned Siri AI

    At its recent Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple announced Siri AI, a redesigned version of its voice assistant that Apple describes in its own announcement as "a profoundly more capable and personal assistant." The update is intended to make Siri more conversational, more context-aware, and more useful across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro.

  • AI artificial intelligence interface over laptop keyboard

    Microsoft Drafts AI Code of Conduct, Emphasizes Human Control

    Microsoft has published a draft code of conduct that lays out how its homegrown AI models should behave, with human control taking priority over model capability, autonomy, and even task completion.

  • Blurred silhouettes of business people in a modern office with a glowing blue network overlay

    Open Secure AI Alliance Moving Under Linux Foundation

    Governance of the Open Secure AI Alliance has moved to the Linux Foundation, giving the initiative what the organizations describe as a neutral home for developing open source tools, shared standards and defensive practices. The Alliance was launched by NVIDIA in July to develop open security technologies for AI systems and agents.

  • Neon email icon hangs from chain with fishing hook below.

    Report Emphasizes Importance of Building a Security Culture

    While security teams have invested heavily in e-mail protection, endpoint security, and identity controls, new research from Fortra suggests one challenge remains difficult to solve: users.