Introducing Coding as a Literacy on Mobile Devices in the Early Years

Walsh, Chris; Campbell, Claire

doi:10.1108/978-1-78714-879-620181004

Cited by 17 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…In this context, new initiatives to introduce computing literacy to citizens have been undertaken worldwide from companies, universities, and non-profits such as the Hour of Code, EU Code Week, CS Education Week, and CS for All. Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and other leading technology figures promote learning to code as a basis for overall development, gave the same importance as reading, writing, and arithmetic (Walsh and Campbell, 2018).…”

Section: Computational Thinking and Computational Fluencymentioning

confidence: 99%

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: Computational Thinking and Computational Fluencymentioning

confidence: 99%

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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“…16). Educators are suddenly responsible for introducing this new type of literacy in their classrooms, with an increasing number of media, governments, and researchers advocating the CT and coding development from the early grades and many available coding apps (Walsh & Campbell, 2018). Nevertheless, to integrate apps into educational material and curriculum, it is essential to select the apps that promote effective teaching and learning (Ehsan et al, 2017).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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“…Teacher educators should help pre-service teachers learn that they should fully consider students' characteristics, such as prior knowledge, technology skills, learning needs and so on. For example, Walsh and Campbell (2018) provided some strategies in their chapter on how to introduce coding as a literacy using robotics toys and then mobile devices in the early years. Meanwhile, teacher educators also should help pre-service teachers learn how to facilitate students to develop skills and strategies to learn according to their own interests and needs.…”

Section: Suggestions and Considerations For Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Weave coding into K-5 curricula as new literacies

Jin

Zha

2019

IDD

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to posit that coding should be considered as a critical part of new literacies. Teacher educators should first adopt the new literacies perspective, and then prepare pre-service teachers to teach both traditional literacy and new literacies skills, especially preparing them how to weave coding into K-5 literacy curricula to cultivate younger learners’ new ways of expressions and computational thinking skills. To facilitate this educational transformation, low-cost Web 2.0 tools and apps were introduced as one practical approach, along with some literacy lesson ideas to help teacher educators and pre-service teachers begin to integrate coding into the K-5 literacy curricula. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a viewpoint paper. Findings A table of low-cost Web 2.0 tools was presented with sample lesson ideas. Originality/value More than ever, coding breaks the traditional definition of literacy as paper-based reading and writing. It empowers students to read, write and create with multimodality on multiple platforms. Weaving coding into the literacy curricula offers the window to promote both computational thinking and new literacies skills. Teacher educators, among all other stakeholders, should begin the efforts to prepare pre-service teachers to weave coding into the literacy curricula and other content areas in the teacher educations programs now.

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Introducing Coding as a Literacy on Mobile Devices in the Early Years

Cited by 17 publications

References 20 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

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

Weave coding into K-5 curricula as new literacies

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