Computing education in children's early years: A call for debate

Manches, Andrew; Plowman, Lydia

doi:10.1111/bjet.12355

Cited by 136 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…However, it is also important to evaluate and understand how easily these teachers are able to integrate digital games in their teaching practices [58]. For the population of teachers studied who are new to technologies in the classroom, the advantages and possibilities offered by digital games may not be immediately obvious.…”

Section: Implication For Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Technology-Enhanced Teaching: A Technology Acceptance Model to Study Teachers’ Intentions to Use Digital Games in the Classroom

Dele-Ajayi

Strachan²,

Anderson

et al. 2019

2019 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)

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This research to practice paper uses a Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to explore the factors that affect teachers' intentions to use digital educational games in the classroom. Research shows that using computers and other digital technologies like digital games is one way to influence young people's career aspirations and improve their digital literacy. This is particularly important as the world of work is changing and emerging jobs becoming more intensive in their use of digital technologies. In the developing world and in particular Nigeria, there have been calls to improve the digital literacy skills of young people to help them make informed career choices, and fully participate effectively and equally in the digital world. However, many of the computing and digital technology education initiatives have not produced the positive results intended. The lack of awareness, readiness and buy-in of the relevant stakeholders are some of the factors that has been identified as a barrier here. For example, for computing and digital technology-based projects in schools, the success largely depends on the support and attitude of teachers. As one of the major stakeholders in the classroom, teachers need to be consulted in decisions that affect the way they deliver their lessons; especially when novel ideas and approaches that challenge tradition are introduced. It is therefore important to consider their acceptance or otherwise of digital games in the classroom. A Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was modified to include constructs previously identified by teachers that potentially influence their intention to use digital games in the classroom. The extended TAM was developed into a questionnaire and tested with 220 teachers in Nigeria. Analyses of the results show that syllabus connectedness, perceived usefulness and self-efficacy are significant predictors of the intention of teachers to adopt digital game-based learning in the classroom. Furthermore, the teachers' demographics including experience of teaching, age and gender all mediated the intention of the teachers to use digital game-based learning. The results and findings present recommendations for school leaders and developers of digital educational games. The practical insights from this are also important here and helpful for guiding the deployment of such games particularly in areas where such technological interventions have not been used before.

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Section: Implication For Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Technology-Enhanced Teaching: A Technology Acceptance Model to Study Teachers’ Intentions to Use Digital Games in the Classroom

Dele-Ajayi

Strachan²,

Anderson

et al. 2019

2019 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…However, Manches and Plowman (2015) highlight that more recent discussion around how to teach programming in schools has often omitted the earlier research conducted during this time: there is, for example, a largely overlooked series of conferences and proceedings held throughout the early 1980s: Logo and Mathematics Education (LME) some of which are captured in Hoyles and Noss (1992). During the late 1990s programming slowly faded from the curriculum as it became subsumed and eventually replaced entirely by the subject of ICT (Information and Communications Technology), which focused more on the use of technology than on its creation (Brown et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bridging Primary Programming and Mathematics: Some Findings of Design Research in England

Benton

Hoyles

Kalaš

et al. 2017

Digit Exp Math Educ

149

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In this paper we present the background, aims and methodology of the ScratchMaths (SM) project, which has designed curriculum materials and professional development (PD) to support mathematical learning through programming for pupils aged between 9 and 11 years. The project was framed by the particular context of computing in the English education system alongside the long history of research and development in programming and mathematics. In this paper, we present a Bframework for action^(diSessa and Cobb, Journal of the Learning Sciences, 13, 77-103, 2004) following design research that looked to develop an evidence-based curriculum intervention around carefully chosen mathematical and computational concepts. As a first step in teasing out factors for successful implementation and addressing any gap between our design intentions and teacher delivery, we focus on two key foundational concepts within the SM curriculum: the concept of algorithm and of 360°total turn. We found that our intervention as a whole enabled teachers with different backgrounds and Digit Exp Math Educ (2017) 3:115-138 DOI 10.1007/s40751-017-0028-x The research reported in this paper forms part of a larger project, the ScratchMaths project 2014-17 funded by the Educational Endowment Foundation. The project is being independently evaluated following a randomized control trial model involving over 100 primary schools across England. Department of Informatics Education, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia levels of confidence to tailor the delivery of the SM in ways that can make these challenging concepts more accessible for both themselves and their pupils.

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“…However, few studies have focused on tools for children at the levels of nursery and primary education. There is evidence that children can learn programming from early childhood [6], and that this can be beneficial for children"s cognitive development [7]. There is particular interest in encouraging positive engagement with computing for girls at this age, with a view to improving the gender balance in the field.…”

Section: Context and Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the Use of TUIs and GUIs for 6- to 7-Year-Old Programming Learning

Almjally

2018

Electronic Workshops in Computing

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There is persistent interest in tangible approaches to supporting young children's learning of programming, but there has been mixed evidence about its benefits, and few studies have investigated the specific features that offer learning benefits in classroom contexts. This research will involve the use of programming blocks that can be instantiated in two contrasting types of interface: a tangible user interface (TUI) and a graphical user interface (GUI). The system will be designed to minimize extraneous differences between the two interfaces in order to isolate the variables of interest. Using a between-subjects design, the study will investigate the impact of interface type on learning and on attitudinal outcomes for children aged 6 to 7. From an embodied interaction perspective, the study will analyse the cognitive advantages of each interface, including identifying how and why each interface type might affect learning outcomes. The study will also investigate children's spontaneous gestures as indicators of understanding. Finally, the research will explore the relationships between interface types, attitudes towards computing, engagement and gender.

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Computing education in children's early years: A call for debate

Cited by 136 publications

References 24 publications

Technology-Enhanced Teaching: A Technology Acceptance Model to Study Teachers’ Intentions to Use Digital Games in the Classroom

Technology-Enhanced Teaching: A Technology Acceptance Model to Study Teachers’ Intentions to Use Digital Games in the Classroom

Bridging Primary Programming and Mathematics: Some Findings of Design Research in England

Investigating the Use of TUIs and GUIs for 6- to 7-Year-Old Programming Learning

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