The effect of digital activities on the technology awareness and computational thinking skills of gifted students (etwinning project example)

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of interdisciplinary activities organised online within the scope of an eTwinning project carried out with gifted students on the students’ technology awareness and computational thinking (CT). However the research was not’ funded by eTwinning. The study was carried out through web-based tools for a period of 3 months in the year 2020. These Web 2.0 tools were: Canva, Zoom, Google Classroom, Jamboard, Tinkercad, Telegram, Facebook, Kahoot!, Instagram, StoryJumper, Padlet, etc. The research was designed with an explanatory design which is one of the mixed models. While in the quantitative aspect of the study, a quasi-experimental design with pretest posttest control group was carried out, a case study was carried out in the qualitative aspect of the study. The participants were 50 gifted students continuing their education at Science and Art Centres affiliated to the National Education Ministry in 6 different provinces of Turkey. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used together in the study. A technology awareness and computational thinking scale was chosen as the quantitative data collection tool, while mind maps were used as the qualitative data collection tool. As a result of the research, a significant increase in the participants’ technology awareness and computational thinking was determined in favour of the posttest, while this increase was verified through the mind-mapping technique applied to the students. At the end of the study, the findings were discussed, and recommendations were made for future studies. In addition, a great limitation of this research was the effectiveness of activities that had to be carried out entirely remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the distance education, in which the teacher’s control was weak, the skills intended to be fostered in students remained at a lower level

The Effect of Digital Activities on the Technology Awareness and Computational Thinking Skills of Gifted Students (eTwinning Project Example)

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of interdisciplinary activities organised online within the scope of an eTwinning project carried out with gifted students on the students’ technology awareness and computational thinking (CT). The study was carried out through web-based tools for a period of 3 months in the year 2020. A single-group pretest-posttest design, one of the pre-experimental designs, was used in the study. The participants were 50 gifted students continuing their education at Science and Art Centres affiliated to the National Education Ministry in 6 different provinces of Anatolia. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used together in the study. A technology awareness and computational thinking scale was chosen as the quantitative data collection tool, while mind maps were used as the qualitative data collection tool. As a result of the research, a significant increase in the participants’ technology awareness and computational thinking was determined in favour of the posttest, while this increase was verified through the mind-mapping technique applied to the students. At the end of the study, the findings were discussed, and recommendations were made for future studies