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Coding, once considered an arcane craft practiced by solitary techies, is now recognized by educators and theorists as a crucial skill, even a new literacy, for all children. Programming is often promoted in K-12 schools as a way to encourage \"computational thinking\" -- which has now become the umbrella term for understanding what computer science has to contribute to reasoning and communicating in an ever-increasingly digital world.InConnected Code,Yasmin Kafai and Quinn Burke argue that although computational thinking represents an excellent starting point, the broader conception of \"computational participation\" better captures the twenty-first-century reality. Computational participation moves beyond the individual to focus on wider social networks and a DIY culture of digital \"making.\" Kafai and Burke describe contemporary examples of computational participation: students who code not for the sake of coding but to create games, stories, and animations to share; the emergence of youth programming communities; the practices and ethical challenges of remixing (rather than starting from scratch); and the move beyond stationary screens to programmable toys, tools, and textiles.

Computational thinking (CT) uses concepts that are essential to computing and information science to solve problems, design and evaluate complex systems, and understand human reasoning and behavior. This way of thinking has important implications in computer sciences as well as in almost every other field. Therefore, we contend that CT should be taught in elementary schools and included in every university's educational curriculum. Several studies that measure the impact of teaching programming, analytical thinking, and CT have been conducted. In this review, we analyze and discuss findings from these studies and highlight the importance of learning programming with a focus on the development of CT skills at a young age. We also describe the tools that are available to improve the teaching of CT and provide a state-of-the-art overview of how programming is being taught at schools and universities in Colombia and around the world.

  Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies have increasingly become vital in our everyday lives. Education is one of the most visible domains in which these technologies are being used. Conversational Agents (CAs) are among the most prominent AI systems for assisting teaching and learning processes. Their integration into an e-learning system can provide replies suited to each learner's specific needs, allowing them to study at their own pace. In this paper, based on recent advancements in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and deep learning techniques, we present an experimental implementation of an educational chatbot intended to instruct secondary school learners Logo, an educational programming language. The related chatbot was implemented and evaluated in Moroccan public schools with the support of teachers from the Regional Center for Education and Training Professions of Souss Massa. The experiments included 109 students grouped into three separate classes. One is a control class group that uses a traditional approach, while the other two are experimental groups that employ digital content and the chatbot-based method. Preliminary findings indicate that employing chatbots can greatly enhance student learning experiences by allowing them to study at their own speed with less stress, saving them time, and keeping them motivated. Furthermore, integrating these AI systems into a smart classroom will not only create a supportive environment by encouraging good interactions with students, it will also allow learners to be more engaged and achieve better academic objectives.

Adding computer science as a separate school subject to the core K-6 curriculum is a complex issue with educational challenges. The authors herein address two of these challenges: (1) the design of the curriculum based on a generic computational thinking framework, and (2) the knowledge teachers need to teach the curriculum. The first issue is discussed within a perspective of designing an authentic computational thinking curriculum with a focus on real-world problems. The second issue is addressed within the framework of technological pedagogical content knowledge explicating in detail the body of knowledge that teachers need to have to be able to teach computational thinking in a K-6 environment. An example of how these ideas can be applied in practice is also given. While it is recognized there is a lack of adequate empirical evidence in terms of the effectiveness of the frameworks proposed herein, it is expected that our knowledge and research base will dramatically increase over the next several years, as more countries around the world add computer science as a separate school subject to their K-6 curriculum.

High-resolution displays on mobile devices, accurate motion sensors, and efficient mobile processors have taken virtual reality (VR), essentially employed in laboratory, to everyday environments, including homes, workplaces, and classrooms. Regarding programming education, it has been investigated in conjunction with various educational strategies, such as block-based programming (BBP), metaphors, and storytelling. However, studies that adopt VR predominantly employ high-end head-mounted displays (HMDs) and powerful computers to deliver interactive and immersive learning experiences. Conversely, investigations involving mobile platforms and low-cost HMDs often lack user interactivity. Towards filling that gap, this study introduces SSPOT-VR (Space Station for Programming Training in Virtual Reality), a cost-effective solution tailored for children and teenagers that integrates interactive methods for the teaching and learning of programming concepts and the simulated experience of an immersive digitally created world. Three surveys, namely S 1 , S 2 and S 3 , involving SSPOT-VR and K-12 students were conducted. S 1 and S 2 focused on user acceptance ( n 1 = 124 and n 2 = 16 ) and S 3 centered on knowledge retention ( n 3 = 31 ). The results indicate students are inclined to accept SSPOT-VR as a valuable educational tool, since it effectively facilitates the retention of programming knowledge through its engaging and interactive learning experiences. By choosing more cost-effective equipment, this research supports the existing body of knowledge while also providing a detailed description of how an effective solution is designed, developed, and used. The approach enhances both affordability and potential applications of immersive VR in programming education.

This study aims to analyze how pre-service informatics teachers design learning scenarios with robotics to teach programming fundamentals and to promote computational thinking skills. A descriptive and exploratory case study design was implemented with 26 pre-service informatics teachers. Data were collected from the participants using qualitative and quantitative instruments. The main results pointed out the affordances and possibilities of the use of learning scenarios with robotics to teach programming fundamentals and to promote computational thinking skills as well as a strong path to promote the application of contents of the other Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) areas. Another significant finding was the impact of the didactic experience on the level of interest and self-confidence of the pre-service teachers in using robotics for teaching purposes. The results showed the importance of these didactics experiences to the pre-service teachers preparation and to apply the pedagogic approaches they have learned in theory in practical activities and to transfer this knowledge to new pedagogical situations and problems.

Computer science has been a discipline for some years, and its position in the school curriculum has been contested differently in several countries. This paper looks at its role in three countries to illustrate these differences. A reconsideration of computer science as a separate subject both in primary and secondary education is suggested. At EDUsummIT 2015 it was argued that the major rationales for including computer science as a subject in the K-12 curriculum are economic, social and cultural. The paper explores these three rationales and also a beneficence matrix to assist curriculum designers. It also argues computer science is rapidly becoming critical for generating new knowledge, and should be taught as a distinct subject or content area, especially in secondary schools. The paper concludes by looking at some of the key questions to be considered when implementing computer science in the school curriculum, and at ways its role might change in the future.

Teaching/learning programming is complex, and conventional classes often fail to arouse students’ motivation in this discipline. Therefore, teachers should look for alternative methods for teaching programming. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) can be a valuable alternative, especially virtual worlds. This study measures the students’ motivation level when using virtual worlds to learn introductory programming skills. Moreover, a comparison is conducted regarding their motivation levels when students learn in a traditional teaching setting. In this study, first-semester university students participated in a pedagogical experiment regarding the learning of the programming subject employing virtual worlds. A pre-test-post-test design was carried out. In the pre-test, 102 students participated, and the motivation level when a professor taught in a traditional modality was measured. Then, a post-test was applied to 60 students learning in virtual worlds. With this research, we have found that the activity conducted with virtual worlds presents higher motivation levels than traditional learning with the teacher. Moreover, regarding gender, women present higher confidence than men. We recommend that teachers try this innovation with their students based on our findings. However, teachers must design a didactic model to integrate virtual worlds into daily teaching activities.

This study examined the developmental process of children’s computational thinking using block-based programming tools, specifically algorithmic thinking and debugging skills. With this aim, a group of children (N  =  191) from two primary schools were studied for two years beginning from the fourth grade, as they engaged in our block-based programming curriculum in their primary schools. A mixed-methods multiple case study was designed with pre- and posttests, classroom observations and postintervention interviews. The statistical results showed that students’ algorithmic thinking and debugging skills significantly increased through our intervention, with girls gaining more on algorithmic thinking. During the students’ learning process, we found that they demonstrated behavioral, affective, and cognitive engagement while acquiring these skills in schools. This study presents the key to student engagement contributing to the process of computational thinking development, with implications for the design of future computational learning in primary school.

Machine Learning (ML) is becoming increasingly present in our lives. Thus, it is important to introduce ML already in High School, enabling young people to become conscious users and creators of intelligent solutions. Yet, as typically ML is taught only in higher education, there is still a lack of knowledge on how to properly teach younger students. Therefore, in this systematic literature review, we analyze findings on teaching ML in High School with regard to content, pedagogical strategy, and technology. Results show that High School students were able to understand and apply basic ML concepts, algorithms and tasks. Pedagogical strategies focusing on active problem/project-based hands-on approaches were successful in engaging students and demonstrated positive learning effects. Visual as well as text-based programming environments supported students to build ML models in an effective way. Yet, the review also identified the need for more rigorous evaluations on how to teach ML.