In early years education, fostering computational thinking and creative problem-solving through digital play can potentially help children develop essential skills for future learning and everyday life. This paper reports an action research project that explored how collaborative play with tangible coding robots could support children's creativity and computational thinking. The study involved five young children (aged 4 and 5), their parents, and two early years specialist educators, positioned as practitioner-researchers. Video data analysis from three digital play sessions within a longer 'stay and play' programme revealed that guided play with age-appropriate tangible coding robots like Cubetto, Blue-Bot, and Botzee could foster young children’s development of problem-solving underpinned by creative and computational thinking skills. To illustrate, key findings are shared through narrative style vignettes which elaborate learning episodes from each digital coding robot play experience. The vignettes highlight the dynamic interplay between children and co-playing adults in fostering computational thinking. Insights and recommendations are shared for nurturing computational thinking in young children and effectively integrating digital technologies into early childhood education.
K. Murcia, Emma Cross, Sarsha Mennell· Australasian Journal of Tech...· 0 citations
The learning environment has a meaningful impact on young children’s creativity. However, while research has explored the physical environment in terms of fostering creativity, less is known about online learning contexts. This article reports on the elements of the online learning environment that fostered young children’s creativity, specifically during STEM activities. In this case study, a group of first grade children in regional Australia engaged in a range of activities delivered online synchronously by a Science Discovery Centre (SDC) 700 km away. Guided by the
A-E of Children’s Creativity
framework, both multimodal video analysis and semi-structured interviews with all participants explored the learning environment element of place that supported the young children’s creative thinking. Based upon the findings, a series of recommendations are presented, designed to assist educators and service providers in preparing the learning environment to support young children’s creative STEM thinking in the online setting.
K. Maslin, K. Murcia, S. Blackley et al.· Early Childhood Education Jo...· 0 citations
We use cookies to run the site and, with your consent, for analytics and to show ads.
See our Cookie Policy.
