"Digital Pedagogy Unplugged"

Curatorial note from Digital Pedagogy in the Humanities: Paul Fyfe provocatively asks, “Can there be a digital pedagogy without computers?” and offers several examples of assignments that treat “the ‘digital’ in the non-electronic senses of that word: something to get your hands on, to deal with in dynamic units, to manipulate creatively.” Rethinking digital pedagogy in this way not only allows students and instructors with varied access to electronic technologies to explore new kinds of assignments but also creates useful linkages between thinking about the materiality of print artifacts and that of digital texts. For example, Fyfe imagines a curatorial assignment where students gather, remix, and analyze physical artifacts rather than images on a screen. Such assignments could be scaffolded with digital assignments that use computational tools to emphasize shared methodological and theoretical principles

Computing as the 4th “R”: a general education approach to computing education

Computing and computation are increasingly pervading our lives, careers, and societies - a change driving interest in computing education at the secondary level. But what should define a "general education" computing course at this level? That is, what would you want every person to know, assuming they never take another computing course? We identify possible outcomes for such a course through the experience of designing and implementing a general education university course utilizing best-practice pedagogies. Though we nominally taught programming, the design of the course led students to report gaining core, transferable skills and the confidence to employ them in their future. We discuss how various aspects of the course likely contributed to these gains. Finally, we encourage the community to embrace the challenge of teaching general education computing in contrast to and in conjunction with existing curricula designed primarily to interest students in the field

Unplugged Learning in the Kindergarten Computer Science Classroom

The purpose of this action research study was to determine the impact of teaching computer science to kindergarten using only unplugged learning rather than plugged or a mixture of plugged and unplugged learning on engagement. Participants included 71 kindergarten and transitional kindergarten students in a public school in rural central Iowa. Data was collected through behavior and off-task reminder tallies, as well as assessment data over nine classes equal to a trimester’s number of computer science classes. Students were taught using either strictly unplugged methods using games, books, manipulatives, and movement or a plugged/online curriculum using online puzzles and videos, including a couple of unplugged lessons. The study found that unplugged learning positively impacted behavior and off-task behavior. No statistical difference was shown in academic achievement; however, it is noted that more topics were covered in the unplugged group than that of the plugged group over the same amount of time. Overall, unplugged learning in kindergarten computer science class positively impacts engagement. The researcher recommends further studies extending the entire year of kindergarten, further studies extending the research through first grade should be considered as well

Using Semantic Waves to Analyse the Effectiveness of Unplugged Computing Activities

We apply the notion of ‘semantic waves’ from Legitimation Code Theory (LCT), a powerful educational framework, to Computer Science Education. We consider two case studies exploring how a simple analysis can help improve learning activities. The case studies focus on unplugged activities used in the context of both teaching school students and teacher continuing professional development. We used a simple method based on LCT to analyse the activities in terms of their ‘semantic profiles’: changes in the context-dependence and complexity of the knowledge being taught.This led to improvements to the activities. We argue that ‘semantic waves’, or moves back and forth between concrete/simpler and abstract/complex knowledge, help show ways that an unplugged activity might be effective or not, and how small changes to the activities can make a difference in potentially offering a more fruitful learning experienc

Developing social-emotional, new media literacy and computational thinking skills through unplugged approach and imagination-based pedagogies in primary education students

The current thesis aims to design and validate a holistic K-6 curricular framework applicable to any academic subject, in any primary school age group. The relationship between unplugged activities and imaginative pedagogies was investigated through the interpretative lens of the exploratory mixed methods research design in order to develop computational, new media literacy and social-emotional skills among primary school students. A series of publications reveals the aims of investigating the gaps (literature review); designing and examining a preliminary framework involving mixed methods grounded theory (MM-GT) methodology (a pilot study); refining and enriching this framework and validating it in three case studies by means of a mixed methods multiple case study research design (the main study); and a proposal for holistic K-6 curriculum guidelines for integrating crucial 21st century skills. The results show that partnership among these ideas can benefit students in a holistic manner at various levels, namely cognitive/intellectual, imaginative/creative, material, social, and emotional, with no need for digital tools or coding/programming, in unplugged, low-technology and information-rich learning environments.La presente tesis tiene como objetivo diseñar y validar un marco curricular holístico de K-6 aplicable a cualquier asignatura académica en todos los grados de la escuela primaria. A través de la lente interpretativa del diseño de investigación de métodos mixtos exploratorios, se investigó la asociación entre las actividades desenchufadas y las pedagogías imaginativas con el fin de desarrollar el pensamiento computacional, las nuevas habilidades de alfabetización mediática y las habilidades socioemocionales en los estudiantes de primaria. Una serie de publicaciones despliegan los objetivos de investigar las lagunas (revisión de la literatura); diseñar y examinar un marco preliminar a través de la metodología de la teoría fundamentada de métodos mixtos (MM-GT), en primer lugar (estudio piloto); refinar y enriquecer este marco y validarlo a través de tres estudios de caso mediante un diseño de investigación de estudio de caso múltiple de métodos mixtos, en segundo lugar (estudio final); propuesta de directrices curriculares holísticas K-6 para integrar las habilidades cruciales del siglo XXI. Los resultados muestran que la asociación entre estas ideas puede beneficiar a los estudiantes en varios ámbitos, como el cognitivo/intelectual, el imaginativo/creativo, el material, el social y el emocional, de forma holística, sin necesidad de herramientas digitales o de programación, en entornos de aprendizaje desenchufados, de baja tecnología y ricos en información.Aquesta tesi té com a objectiu dissenyar i validar un marc curricular holístic de K-6 aplicable a qualsevol assignatura acadèmica en tots els graus de l'escola primària. A través de la lent interpretativa del disseny d'investigació de mètodes mixtos exploratoris, es va investigar l'associació entre les activitats desendollades i les pedagogies imaginatives per tal de desenvolupar el pensament computacional, les noves habilitats d'alfabetització mediàtica i les habilitats socioemocionals en els estudiants de primària. Una sèrie de publicacions despleguen els objectius d'investigar les llacunes (revisió de la literatura); dissenyar i examinar un marc preliminar a través de la metodologia de la teoria fonamentada de mètodes mixtos (MM-GT), en primer lloc (estudi pilot); refinar i enriquir aquest marc i validar-lo a través de tres estudis de cas mitjançant un disseny d'investigació d'estudi de cas múltiple de mètodes mixtos, en segon lloc (estudi final); proposta de directrius curriculars holístiques K-6 per integrar les habilitats crucials del segle XXI. Els resultats mostren que l'associació entre aquestes idees pot beneficiar els estudiants en diversos àmbits, com ara el cognitiu/intel·lectual, l'imaginatiu/creatiu, el material, el social i l'emocional, de manera holística, sense necessitat d'eines digitals o de programació, en entorns d'aprenentatge desendollats, de baixa tecnologia i rics en informació.E-learnin

How to bring forth good social learning in teacher education through technology

A core theme of this context statement is the contribution that digital technology can make to social learning in online and face-to-face contexts. The work contributes to the field of educational technology across sectors, by considering some of the obstacles currently facing practitioners such as new curricula, new pedagogical approaches and the fast pace of change. I present a rationale for technology supporting social learning and discuss several significant themes, such as the role of learning communities in supporting the co-creation of knowledge, the pedagogic approaches that support computational thinking, digital literacy and mobile learning, and the potential of international projects and online courses to make purposeful connections between teachers and learners. Looking firstly with a distant lens at the forms of technology-enabled learning communities (TELCs) in my public works, and then with a closer lens at the interactions and behaviours within them, I present a characterisation of the learning landscape that involves a topology and typology of TELCs. These consist of five distinct forms of TELCs together with a set of five dualities that describe conditions for knowledge-building. This framework contributes towards an understanding of the epistemology of TELCs within the context of my public works. It offers descriptive and diagnostic tools for analysing the nature of learning, knowing and knowledge-building within TELCs, and demonstrates how some key variables are interrelated. As such, it has relevance to the design and evaluation of social online learning and makes a contribution to the debate around theories of learning in a digital age

A Framework for Teaching Computational Thinking in Primary Schools: A Namibian Case Study

Several professional development programs have been designed to train in-service teachers on a computational thinking (CT) curriculum, but few researchers have examined how these affect primary school teachers\u27 self-efficacy and knowledge of CT in emerging economies. This study\u27s objective was to create a framework for the professional development of primary school in-service teachers for the teaching of CT (referred to as professional development for primary computational thinking - PD4PCT) to be integrated into teachers\u27 professional development programs. An initial framework was refined after implementing it at a Namibian school with a group of 14 teachers from five different disciplines (social studies, English, natural science, mathematics, and Afrikaans). Literature reviews, pre- and post-intervention questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and self-reporting diaries were used to collect data. The framework was evaluated by experts via an online questionnaire. The findings show that teachers who participated in the professional development program improved their perceived CT knowledge, beliefs, and confidence to teach CT

Coding as literacy in preschool: a case study

Coding is increasingly recognized as a new literacy that should be encouraged at a young age. This understanding has recontextualized computer science as a compulsory school subject and has informed several developmentally appropriate approaches to computation, including for preschool children. This study focuses on the introduction of three approaches to computation in preschool (3–6 years), specifically computational thinking, programming, and robotics, from a cross-curricular perspective. This paper presents preliminary findings from one of the case studies currently being developed as part of project KML II—Laboratory of Technologies and Learning of Programming and Robotics for Preschool and Elementary School. The purpose of the KML II project is to characterize how approaches to computation can be integrated into preschool and elementary education, across different knowledge domains. The conclusions point to “expression and communication” as an initial framework for computational approaches in preschool, but also to multidisciplinary and more creative methodological activities that offer greater scope for the development of digital and computational competences, as well as for personal and social development.This research was funded under the project KML II—Laboratory of technologies and learning of programming and robotics for preschool and elementary school, which is co-funded by FEDER through the COMPETE 2020- Operational Thematic Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI) and national funds through FCT- Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under project reference number PTDC/CED-EDG/28710/2017

The Development of Computational Thinking in Student Teachers through an Intervention with Educational Robotics

Aim/Purpose This research aims to describe and demonstrate the results of an intervention through educational robotics to improve the computational thinking of student teachers. Background Educational robotics has been increasing in school classrooms for the development of computational thinking and digital competence. However, there is a lack of research on how to prepare future teachers of Kindergarten and Elementary School in the didactic use of computational thinking, as part of their necessary digital teaching competence. Methodology Following the Design-Based Research methodology, we designed an intervention with educational robots that includes unplugged, playing, making and remixing activities. Participating in this study were 114 Spanish university students of education. Contribution This research helps to improve the initial training of student teachers, especially in the field of educational robotics. Findings The student teachers consider themselves digital competent, especially in the dimensions related to social and multimedia aspects, and to a lesser extent in the technological dimension. The results obtained also confirm the effectiveness of the intervention through educational robotics in the development of computational thinking of these students, especially among male students. Recommendations for Practitioners Teacher trainers could introduce robotics following these steps: (1) initiation and unplugged activities, (2) gamified activities of initiation to the programming and test of the robots, (3) initiation activities to Scratch, and (4) design and resolution of a challenge. Recommendation for Researchers Researchers could examine how interventions with educational robots helps to improve the computational thinking of student teachers, and thoroughly analyze gender-differences. Impact on Society Computational thinking and robotics are one of the emerging educational trends. Despite the rise of this issue, there are still few investigations that systematize and collect evidence in this regard. This study allows to visualize an educational intervention that favors the development of the computational thinking of student teachers. Future Research Researchers could evaluate not only the computational thinking of student teachers, but also their didactics, their ability to teach or create didactic activities to develop computational thinking in their future students