The 101 keeps the same form factor as other standard Arduinos, but replaces the usual Atmel chip for the Intel Curie module โ€” the first dev board to carry this mighty little chip. While still programmable through the Arduino environment, the Curie brings a 6-axis combination accelerometer and gyroscope along with Bluetooth Low Energy radio for wireless connectivity. For educational use, itโ€™s hard to go wrong with boards that work with all things Arduino (shields, IDE, code); the 101 will slide right in.

To help push the 101 over the edge as a great educational board, it is one of the few that is supported by Google Science Journal, letting users connect additional sensors they can log with the app.