There has been considerable interest in examining the educational potential of playing video games. One crucial element, however, has traditionally been left out of these discussionsnamely, children's learning through making their own games. In this article, we review and synthesize 55 studies from the last decade on making games and learning. We found that the majority of studies focused on teaching coding and academic content through game making, and that few studies explicitly examined the roles of collaboration and identity in the game making process. We argue that future discussions of serious gaming ought to be more inclusive of constructionist approaches to realize the full potential of serious gaming. Making games, we contend, not only more genuinely introduces children to a range of technical skills but also better connects them to each other, addressing the persistent issues of access and diversity present in traditional digital gaming cultures.

Learning programming introduces students to solving problems, designing applications, and making connections online.

Why every child needs to learn to code: the shift from “computational thinking” to computational participation. 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. In Connected 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.

Understanding the computational concepts on which countless digital applications run offers learners the opportunity to no longer simply read such media but also become more discerning end users and potentially innovative “writers” of new media themselves. To think computationally—to solve problems, to design systems, and to process and organize information drawing on concepts fundamental to computer science—is seen as a crucial problem‐solving skill in the new millennium. It is not a matter of turning all adolescents into computer scientists but rather leveraging coding as a means to get youths more engaged in the workings of the Web‐based media that surround them.

Many computer science programs have capstone experiences or project courses that allow students to integrate knowledge from the full breadth of their major. Such capstone projects may be student-designed, instructor-designed, designed in conjunction with outside companies, or integrated with ongoing free and open source (FOSS) projects. The literature shows that the FOSS approach has attracted a great deal of interest, in particular when implemented with projects that have humanitarian goals (HFOSS). In this article, we describe five unique models from five distinct types of institutions for incorporating sustained FOSS or HFOSS (alternatively H/FOSS) project work into capstone experiences or courses. The goal is to provide instructors wishing to integrate open source experiences into their curriculum with additional perspectives and resources to help in adapting this approach to the specific needs and goals of their institution and students. All of the models presented are based on sustained engagement with H/FOSS projects that last at least one semester and often more. Each model is described in terms of its characteristics and how it fits the needs of the institution using the model. Assessment of each model is also presented. We then discuss the themes that are common across the models, such as project selection, team formation, mentoring, and student assessment. We examine the choices made by each model, as well as the challenges faced. We end with a discussion how the models have leveraged institutional initiatives and collaborations with outside organizations to address some of the challenges associated with these projects.