Week 4: Computational Thinking

The use of digital technology has become a fundamental aspect of every day life. An article by Liapis, Yannakakis, Alexopoulos and Lopes (2016) argue that the role of computer in fostering creativity can be quite significant. Their article supports a theory that students and computers can experience a ‘mixed-initiative interaction’ when using digital technologies. This means that both students and computers actively contribute to solving a complex problem.

Education has been somewhat encouraged vertical thinking in the past, but even since the 1990’s educators have seen the importance of building and encouraging lateral thinking in students (Waks, 1997). Vertical thinking has often been described as logical, mathematical tools provided through to improve natural thinking, however this can entail setbacks as students are encouraged to label, categorise and classify their thought processes to meet certain rules and expectations. Lamb, Annetta, and Vallett (20150 reminds us that creativity involves developing new, original, and unique products through divergent, lateral thinking, and computational thinking allows an overlap with both thinking processes.

Blockly Games as a tool to entice Computational Thinking.

Blockly Games is an interesting app/game that engrossed me quickly. Their website claims that it is an ideal platform to help students learn about computer programming who have had no prior experience. Each activity initially introduces the task with the tools to generate solutions within certain constraints whilst guiding prompts. Alongside the activity is a diagram, which shows or proves the appropriate commands in real time. Students program the commands using scratch commands and check their solution.

I relate this to the point made by Kafai and Burke (2013) with their reference to children playing with Lego. Students need to help organise their tools and thought processes. It can be easy to build little projects with a bunch of random Lego pieces that have been dumped into a bucket, pulling out random pieces to build a small project. This covers the notion of discovery and exploration when playing games; pointed out previously as being valuable to students (Beavis, Muspratt & Thompson, 2015). However, this process can be time consuming with students trying to find the pieces to the puzzle in a disorganised mess.

To build their knowledge and skills the Lego blocks will need to be organised into size, shape and function so that when building a large project, they will see that it is much easier and efficient to prearrange the blocks in a set sequence already organised into shape, size and function to be readily available. This is like computational thinking. Activities like Blocky Games can help build students computational thinking, align the scratch code into a logical known sequence, build their understanding of how it works, which then allows them to apply divergent, lateral thinking.

References

Beavis, Catherine, Muspratt, Sandy, & Thompson, Roberta. (2015). “Computer Games Can Get Your Brain Working”: Student Experience and Perceptions of Digital Games in the Classroom. Learning, Media and Technology, 40(1), 21-42.

Blockly Games (n.d.). Available from https://blockly-games.appspot.com/?lang=en

Kafai, Y. B., & Burke, Q. (2013). Computer Programming Goes Back to School. Phi Delta Kappan, 95(1), 61–65. 

Lamb, Richard, Annetta, Leonard, & Vallett, David. (2015). The Interface of Creativity, Fluency, Lateral Thinking, and Technology While Designing Serious Educational Games in a Science Classroom. Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology, 13(2), 219-242.

Liapis, A., Yannakakis, G.N., Alexopoulos, C. & Lopes, L. (2016). Can Computers Foster Human Users’ Creativity? Theory and Praxis of Mixed-Initiative Co-Creativity. Digital Culture & Education, 8(2), Digital Culture & Education, 01 July 2016, Vol.8(2).

Waks, S. (1997). Lateral Thinking and Technology Education. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 6(4), 245-255.