971414POP KitsClosedSmall Business Research InitiativeInnovate UKTechnology Will Save Us has worked with over 5K teachers & 20K young people & families since 2012. This project will consolidate our experiences with the new requirements of the new Computer Science curriculum, insights from educators, & growing access to tablets in order to develop affordable, easy to use, effective & fun programming kits to engage Key stage (KS) 1-2 (4-11yrs) young people, their teachers & families. Science, mathematics & programming are often presented to young people as abstract topics devoid of personalised, real-world connections - therefore students become bored & unengaged. Traditional approaches can often exclude diverse learners & alienate girls from seeing technology & programming as relevant topics of interest to pursue. The new UK curriculum requires primary school teachers to bring programming & technology into their classrooms. POP Kits will leverage 4-11 year olds' innate curiosity & creativity by using technology & programming as tools for invention, understanding & problem solving in real-life. This experience will inspire diverse young people to use both logic and creativity to learn programming principles such as algorithms, routines and variables. They will use sensors to detect the world around them, electronics to make things come to life & programming to make them personal - imagining new possibilities. Everyone learns more when they care about what they are making. The POP Kit ecosystem of hardware, a web application & support material will enable teachers to teach the way kids love to learn: hands-on. These tools will be designed to encourage best practice teaching, even for non tech educators & families. Our user-centred, agile approach to R&D & efficacy will include key stakeholders at every stage, increasing learning outcomes, usability, desirability and feasibility in schools. We will use an innovative way of programming hardware & software though light & sound to eliminate the barrier for teachers & schools around USB connections. As more schools become tablet focused & families in the UK increase usage of tablets at home, POP kits will be accessible to more young people to learn & use programming related to things they care about. POP Kits support 21st century learning of technology & programming everywhere - on the playground, in the classroom & at the kitchen table.