Learning to code via tablet applications: An evaluation of Daisy the Dinosaur and Kodable as learning tools for young children

Pila, Sarah; Aladé, Fashina; Sheehan, Kelly J.; Lauricella, Alexis R.; Wartella, Ellen

doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2018.09.006

Cited by 83 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…It is well established that young children spend a substantial amount of time with touchscreens devices (Dore and Dynia, 2020;Galway et al, 2020;Pila et al, 2019) and that they can handle these devices as young as 18 months old, often before reading (Rose, 2019). Touchscreen technology has reduced the children's necessity of performing tasks with a computer, which was a challenging task for young children with limited fine motor skills.…”

Section: Computational Thinking and Computational Fluencymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They need to provide opportunities for creating a computational artifact that can be shared with others and support a growing range of computational literacy skills, from beginner to expert (Bers, 2020). Despite the growing number of apps aiming to get children interested in coding, only a few studies have evaluated these apps' effectiveness (Pila et al, 2019) in developing children CT skills and fluency.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

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: Computational Thinking and Computational Fluencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

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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“…However, researchers have shown increasing interest in examining children's development of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) skills in the context of app play. For example, Pila, Aladé, Sheehan, Lauricella, and Wartella () examined preschoolers’ ability to learn coding skills (e.g., sequencing, conditioning, and loops) via two developmentally appropriate apps. Findings showed that after regular practice with the apps over the course of a week, children showed improvement in specific commands used within the game albeit not in their ability to articulate what coding entailed.…”

Section: Media Use Among Young Childrenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital Games as a Context for Children's Cognitive Development: Research Recommendations and Policy Considerations

Blumberg

Deater‐Deckard

Calvert

et al. 2019

Social Policy Report

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We document the need to examine digital game play and app use as a context for cognitive development, particularly during middle childhood. We highlight this developmental period as 6‐ through 12‐year olds comprise a large swath of the preadult population that plays and uses these media forms. Surprisingly, this age range remains understudied with regard to the impact of their interactive media use as compared to young children and adolescents. This gap in knowledge about middle childhood may reflect strong and widely held concerns about the effects of digital games and apps before and after this period. These concerns include concurrent and subsequent influences of game use on very young children's and adolescents’ cognitive and socioemotional functioning. We highlight here what is currently known about the impact of media on young children and adolescents and what is not known about this impact in middle childhood. We then offer recommendations for the types of research that developmental scientists can undertake to examine the efficacy of digital games within the rapidly changing media ecology in which children live. We conclude with a discussion of media policies that we believe can help children benefit from their media use. Our hope is that this review will foster greater investigation of the cognitive socialization, as raised over 20 years ago by developmental psychologist and early games researcher Patricia Greenfield, that digital games serve during the middle childhood period, and childhood more generally.

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“…To this end one must consider the previous experiences of the pupils (Hatzigianni & Margetts, 2012;Zevenbergen, 2007) and the studies that have evidenced the positive effects of ICT as tools for learning while being shown as tools that favour social interaction, the assumption of values, empowerment, participation and creativity. Among these positive effects we highlight the development of literacy, science, mathematics, problem solving and self-efficacy (Ballesteros-Regana et al, 2019;Kalas 2010;Herodotou, 2018;Pila et al, 2019;Ruckenstein, 2010;Siraj-Blatchford & Siraj-Blatchford 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Types of Use of Technologies by Spanish Early Childhood Teachers

Tena¹,

Lozano²,

Gutiérrez³

2020

EUROPEAN J ED RES

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Young pupils engage with technology daily, however, the use that preschool teachers make of technologies and their level of digital expertise are largely unknown. The objective of this study was to determine how these teachers make use of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) and the frequency with which they use them, as well as to explore the sociodemographic and professional factors related to the different uses. 477 preschool teachers from Spain took part in a survey. The questionnaire, validated by experts, covered the use of ICT as a teaching-learning tool. Three different analyses were carried out, a principal component analysis and a descriptive analysis to determine the type and intensity of use and a multivariate analysis of variance to explore their relationships with sociodemographic and professional variables. The findings defined eight distinct uses of ICT, which seemed to be related to different factors. Teachers did not employ these technologies openly and consistently in their classrooms, but instead used them for occasional tasks that were administrative and bureaucratic in nature. They manifest a limited ICT use for assessment of pupil and for communication and exchange of ideas, information and materials. Instead, ICT were widely used to prepare classroom work (planning, classroom posters…) and as classroom support as a learning tool (routines, games, to record audios…). Among the studied variables, the more significant were teaching experience and type of centre. We discuss the need to advocate for continuous and comprehensive training on the educational potential of these digital resources.

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Learning to code via tablet applications: An evaluation of Daisy the Dinosaur and Kodable as learning tools for young children

Cited by 83 publications

References 32 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

Digital Games as a Context for Children's Cognitive Development: Research Recommendations and Policy Considerations

Types of Use of Technologies by Spanish Early Childhood Teachers

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