Physical computing with plug-and-play toolkits: Key recommendations for collaborative learning implementations

Physical computing toolkits have long been used in educational contexts to learn about computational concepts by engaging in the making of interactive projects. This paper presents a comprehensive toolkit that can help educators teach programming with an emphasis on collaboration, and provides suggestions for its effective pedagogical implementation. The toolkit comprises the Talkoo kit with physical computing plug-and-play modules and a visual programming environment. The key suggestions are inspired by the results of the evaluation studies which show that children (aged 14–18 in a sample group of 34 students) are well motivated when working with the toolkit but lack confidence in the kit's support for collaborative learning. If the intention is to move beyond tools and code in computer education to community and context, thus encouraging computational participation, collaboration should be considered as a key aspect of physical computing activities. Our approach expands the field of programming with physical computing for teenage children with a focus on empowering teachers and students with not only a kit but also its appropriate classroom implementation for collaborative learning

Experiences from Using Gamification and IoT-based Educational Tools in High Schools towards Energy Savings

Raising awareness among young people, and especially students, on the relevance of behavior change for achieving energy savings is increasingly being considered as a key enabler towards long-term and cost-effective energy efficiency policies. However, the way to successfully apply educational interventions focused on such targets inside schools is still an open question. In this paper, we present our approach for enabling IoT-based energy savings and sustainability awareness lectures and promoting data-driven energy-saving behaviors focused on a high school audience. We present our experiences toward the successful application of sets of educational tools and software over a real-world Internet of Things (IoT) deployment. We discuss the use of gamification and competition as a very effective end-user engagement mechanism for school audiences. We also present the design of an IoT-based hands-on lab activity, integrated within a high school computer science curricula utilizing IoT devices and data produced inside the school building, along with the Node-RED platform. We describe the tools used, the organization of the educational activities and related goals. We report on the experience carried out in both directions in a high school in Italy and conclude by discussing the results in terms of achieved energy savings within an observation period.Comment: to be presented at 2019 European Conference on Ambient Intelligenc

Guidelines for empowering children to make and shape digital technology—case fab lab Oulu

Abstract Digital technology design and making skills are seen as important ‘twenty-first century skills’ that children need to learn to become future changemakers, i.e., to manage and master in the current and future technology-rich everyday life. Fab labs (digital fabrication laboratories) are one example of non-formal learning environments where schoolteachers bring children to work with projects on digital technology design and making. Even though the value of fab labs in such endeavors has been acknowledged, the potential of fab labs in empowering children to make and shape digital technology remains poorly explored. This study scrutinizes the current theoretical understanding of empowerment related to design and making and relates that on empirical data of practical work done with children in the fab lab of the University of Oulu. Based on that, we offer theory- and practice-based guidelines for practitioners who wish to empower children to make and shape digital technology in the context of non-formal learning and fab labs. These guidelines should be useful for teachers when planning and implementing children’s work in fab labs as well as for fab lab personnel who help children to conduct their projects, with special emphasis on school visits to fab lab premises