A Tangible, Story-Construction Process Employing Spatial, Computational-Thinking (original) (raw)
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Engaging Primary School Children in Computational Thinking: Designing and Developing Videogames
Education in the knowledge society, 2018
Resumen Este artículo presenta los resultados de un proyecto sobre Pensamiento Computacional en niños de primaria. Durante el proyecto, llamado Computational Thinking for children education, 81 estudiantes de una escuela primaria en Italia se han orientado al diseño y desarrollo de juegos de computadora a través de la plataforma de desarrollo de juegos Microsoft Kodu. Se han propuesto diferentes actividades a los niños con el objetivo de promover habilidades de Pensamiento Computacional. Se ha adoptado un enfoque narrativo a lo largo del proyecto. Los resultados preliminares de la experiencia educativa resaltan que la adopción del aprendizaje narrativo y la reproducción física de objetos de programación manipulativos proporcionan una oportunidad para el desarrollo de habilidades de Pensamiento Computacional. Además, la constancia durante el proceso de aprendizaje afecta la adquisición de habilidades de desarrollo del juego; finalmente, el diseño e implementación de juegos de computadora usando Kodu ha tenido una influencia positiva significativa en la percepción de la programación de computadoras. Abstract This paper presents the results of a project on Computational Thinking education for primary school pupils. During the project-called Computational Thinking for children education-81 students from a primary school in Italy have been guided to the design and development of computer games through the Microsoft Kodu game development platform. Different activities have been proposed to the pupils with the aim of promoting Computational Thinking abilities and skills. A narrative approach has been adopted throughout the project. Preliminary results of the educational experience highlight as the adoption of narrative learning and physical reproduction of manipulative programming objects provide an affordance for the development of Computational Thinking abilities. Furthermore, constancy during the learning process affects the acquisition of game development skills; finally, the design and implementation of computer games using Kodu have had a significant positive influence on the perception of computer programming.
Issues in Educational Research, 2020
We present research that explored digital coding in an Australian early years learning centre and how it impacted on a focus group of 3 and 4-year-old children’s creativity. The questions that guided the design experimental method were: (1) how do young children develop and demonstrate creativity when learning through play with digital coding technologies? and (2) what does creativity look like in young children’s engagement with digital coding technologies? After firstly discussing the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) context of the research, we explore the meaning of creativity in the early years and establish the conceptual framework for analysing children’s play and learning with a BeeBot coding toy and iPad app. Importantly, our review and synthesis of significant literature led to the development of an innovative framework, the ‘A’ to ‘E’ of children’s creativity. This framework includes five proposed characteristic clusters of children’s creativity, inc...
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Children are immersed in a world that is characterized by the continuous interplay of physical and digital dimensions, material objects and virtual realities. This article is centered on an experience with a group of 9-11 year old children where they worked on a shared project that they created together from the beginning, based on the constant flow of ideas and cooperation between individuals, small groups and the larger group, in dialogue with time, between real and virtual dimensions. The role of the adult as an attentive, participatory observer, resource and co-researcher with the children created an inclusive, child-centered atmosphere which kept the children's relationships and collaboration with each other at the heart of the experience. The digital realm was a resource and a material that enhanced the children's play, their ideas and allowed them to give shape to their project by broadening their range of action and the expressive possibilities. Using digital materia...
Interactive Learning Environments, 2020
In response to a need to equip youth to become successful contributors to our growing digital economy, educators and researchers are exploring ways to incorporate computational thinking (CT) for all across curricular domains. In this paper, we take a place-based approach to examine how and what CT practices youth learn through designing mobile games in and for their own communities. We conducted three after school workshops with 29 participants (13 female, 16 male, ages 9-16) in a rural city in the Western United States. Youth designed place-based, mobile games to share stories and experiences about local environmental or civic issues using the Augmented Reality and Interactive Storytelling (ARIS) programming platform. We collected and analyzed a range of data including field notes, design artifacts, screencasts, and final reflective interviews. Using Brennan and Resnick (2012) as an analytic frame for CT, we illustrate how youth engaged with CT practices and how their local topics facilitated their engagement with civic issues beyond the screen. Findings demonstrate how youth can engage with CT practices and their local communities through designing computational artifacts. We discuss implications for how leveraging place-based computational tools afford equitable and accessible CT integration in interdisciplinary contexts.