Educational Mobile Applications on Computational Thinking and Programming for Children Under 8 Years Old

Terzopoulos, George; Satratzemi, Maya; Tsompanoudi, Despina

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-49932-7_50

Cited by 4 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Interestingly, all apps mentioned in the studies are free or partially free and work on various operating systems and types of smart devices. Coding apps should be available for free and for various platforms as not all parents or schools can afford to buy an iPad or pay for app licenses (Terzopoulos et al, 2019). Additionally, they are stand-alone applications, and they do not require a continuous internet connection, which may be costly or even unavailable in some educational contexts.…”

Section: Discussion and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To date, there has been little empirical research on the effectiveness of these apps in introducing computational thinking and computational fluency in young children (Sheehan et al, 2019). Many of these apps have never been evaluated in young children, so their claims cannot be confirmed (Giannakoulas and Xinogalos, 2018;Terzopoulos et al, 2019). More research is needed to determine whether the various coding apps facilitate CT and CF in young children (Pila et al, 2019;Sheehan et al, 2019;Hamilton et al, 2020).…”

Section: Computational Thinking and Computational Fluencymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to the Goal-Question-Metric approach (Basili, 1992), the present study investigates coding apps' educational value in developing young children's Computational Thinking and Computational Fluency. Two research questions were formulated to achieve this goal based on the author's experience and relevant literature (Laporte and Zaman, 2018;Fessakis et al, 2019;Jin and Zha, 2019;Terzopoulos et al, 2019;Yu and Roque, 2019). More specifically, the following research question was identified:…”

Section: Research Goal and Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Impact of Coding Apps to Support Young Children in Computational Thinking and Computational Fluency. A Literature Review

Papadakis

2021

Front. Educ.

100

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Data that shows that young children can learn and acquire Computational Thinking (CT) skills has led governments and policymakers internationally to integrate CT into the curriculum, starting in the earliest grades. Researchers support the idea that this introduction must not solely focus on a problem-solving process skill (CT) but instead provide children with new ways to express themselves, supporting their cognitive, language, and socio-emotional development (Computational Fluency-CF). Coupled with the media and government’s rhetoric and an increasing number of apps offering various programming lessons, puzzles, and challenges, educators have been responsible for introducing young children to CT and CF using touchscreen technology. This paper presents a literature review (N = 21) of empirical studies on applying four coding apps to support young children’s learning of CT and CF. The main conclusion is that all apps positively affect the development of children’s CT skills. None of the apps can ultimately support the development of CF, although ScratchJr, with a “sandbox” approach, can better help students express themselves.

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Section: Discussion and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Computational Thinking and Computational Fluencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Research Goal and Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Impact of Coding Apps to Support Young Children in Computational Thinking and Computational Fluency. A Literature Review

Papadakis

2021

Front. Educ.

100

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“…In recent years, several educational games that aim to teach basic programming concepts and cultivate CT aspects to novice programmers have been developed [16,17]. The most common way of distributing such games, nowadays, is mainly via web platforms or through mobile device applications.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies show that mobile devices can enhance educational impact when used in the classroom, since the overall result of using mobile devices is better than when using desktop computers or nothing at all [31,32]. Interestingly enough findings have come from a study [17], where the authors explored whether mobile applications have a proven educational effectiveness based on related scientific research. The study concludes that most mobile applications have never been evaluated, thus, their educational value cannot be confirmed.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Proposal for an Educational Game Platform for Teaching Programming to Primary School Students

Giannakoulas

Terzopoulos

Xinogalos

et al. 2021

Communications in Computer and Information Science

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Programming is considered by many a core skill of the 21st century. Learning the fundamentals of coding or programming encourages children to acquire new skills, such as problem solving, logical thinking, critical thinking, and Computational Thinking (CT), and moreover to be active creators of tomorrow. There are various platforms for learning coding and programming, and in particular game-based ones, which, through the gamification process, focus on increasing learners' motivation and engagement. Most existing games are nowadays distributed through web platforms or mobile applications. Most suffer from major drawbacks, which make them difficult to use in a classroom environment, and there lack of an administrative platform does not allow the educator to assign tasks to students when at home. This paper proposes the design of an educational platform for teaching programming to primary school children. It has been designed and is to be developed on the CMX framework. The educational platform includes a web-based game for in classroom teaching, a mobile application game for outside of the classroom, and an administrative module for the teacher to organize the educational process and monitor pupils' performance. Through specific learning analytics the instructor will be able to draw conclusions on whether the students achieved the specific learning objectives, as well as understanding the educational impact that these types of games actually have on students.

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Can Preschoolers Learn Computational Thinking and Coding Skills with ScratchJr? A Systematic Literature Review

Papadakis

2022

International Journal of Educational Reform

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Computational Thinking (CT) and the understanding of how programs are being executed is internationally acknowledging as a necessity for today's students and citizens of tomorrow. Despite the multifaceted nature of CT, the introduction of CT and associate concepts such as coding is regarded as developmental acceptable for preschool and kindergarten children. For a decade, there has been a focus on educational reform in the form of educational apps. For young children, an influx of mobile apps offering various interfaces and styles promote themselves as having educational value to introduce children aged 5–7 to essential CT, coding, and problem-solving skills. On the contrary, little is known about the educational value of these apps. The fast pace at which developers produce these apps and the breadth of the available apps have gone beyond what it is reasonable for researchers and experts in the domain to evaluate. This article presents a literature review on how the ScratchJr app affects young children's CT, coding, and general literacy skills. The literature review includes 18 studies. The main conclusion is that although ScratchJr is not a panacea, it seems to be a helpful app that positively affects children's CT and coding skills.

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Educational Mobile Applications on Computational Thinking and Programming for Children Under 8 Years Old

Cited by 4 publications

References 33 publications

The Impact of Coding Apps to Support Young Children in Computational Thinking and Computational Fluency. A Literature Review

The Impact of Coding Apps to Support Young Children in Computational Thinking and Computational Fluency. A Literature Review

A Proposal for an Educational Game Platform for Teaching Programming to Primary School Students

Can Preschoolers Learn Computational Thinking and Coding Skills with ScratchJr? A Systematic Literature Review

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