Abstract
Despite the growing number of digital apps designed to teach coding skills to young children, we know little about their effectiveness. To formally explore this question, we conducted a naturalistic observation of a one-week program designed to teach foundational coding skills (i.e., sequencing, conditions, loops) to young children (N = 28, M age = 5.15 years) using two tablet applications: Daisy the Dinosaur and Kodable. Pre- and post-assessments measured familiarity with technology, appeal of coding apps, knowledge of Daisy commands, ability to play Kodable, and conceptual understanding of coding. Participants improved in their knowledge of Daisy commands (i.e., move, grow, jump) and Kodable gameplay (i.e., placing arrows in the correct sequence to move a character through a maze), but did not improve in their ability to verbally explain what coding is. Appeal of the games was significantly related to children's learning of Daisy commands, but child gender was not related to either Daisy or Kodable learning outcomes. Results suggest that young children can learn foundational coding skills via apps, especially when the apps are appealing to children.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 52-62 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Computers and Education |
| Volume | 128 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2019 |
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Keywords
- Apps
- Coding
- Computational thinking
- Digital games
- Educational technology
- STEM
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Computer Science(all)
- Education
Cite this
}
Learning to code via tablet applications : An evaluation of Daisy the Dinosaur and Kodable as learning tools for young children. / Pila, Sarah; Aladé, Fashina; Sheehan, Kelly J.; Lauricella, Alexis R.; Wartella, Ellen Ann.
In: Computers and Education, Vol. 128, 01.01.2019, p. 52-62.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Learning to code via tablet applications
T2 - An evaluation of Daisy the Dinosaur and Kodable as learning tools for young children
AU - Pila, Sarah
AU - Aladé, Fashina
AU - Sheehan, Kelly J.
AU - Lauricella, Alexis R.
AU - Wartella, Ellen Ann
PY - 2019/1/1
Y1 - 2019/1/1
N2 - Despite the growing number of digital apps designed to teach coding skills to young children, we know little about their effectiveness. To formally explore this question, we conducted a naturalistic observation of a one-week program designed to teach foundational coding skills (i.e., sequencing, conditions, loops) to young children (N = 28, M age = 5.15 years) using two tablet applications: Daisy the Dinosaur and Kodable. Pre- and post-assessments measured familiarity with technology, appeal of coding apps, knowledge of Daisy commands, ability to play Kodable, and conceptual understanding of coding. Participants improved in their knowledge of Daisy commands (i.e., move, grow, jump) and Kodable gameplay (i.e., placing arrows in the correct sequence to move a character through a maze), but did not improve in their ability to verbally explain what coding is. Appeal of the games was significantly related to children's learning of Daisy commands, but child gender was not related to either Daisy or Kodable learning outcomes. Results suggest that young children can learn foundational coding skills via apps, especially when the apps are appealing to children.
AB - Despite the growing number of digital apps designed to teach coding skills to young children, we know little about their effectiveness. To formally explore this question, we conducted a naturalistic observation of a one-week program designed to teach foundational coding skills (i.e., sequencing, conditions, loops) to young children (N = 28, M age = 5.15 years) using two tablet applications: Daisy the Dinosaur and Kodable. Pre- and post-assessments measured familiarity with technology, appeal of coding apps, knowledge of Daisy commands, ability to play Kodable, and conceptual understanding of coding. Participants improved in their knowledge of Daisy commands (i.e., move, grow, jump) and Kodable gameplay (i.e., placing arrows in the correct sequence to move a character through a maze), but did not improve in their ability to verbally explain what coding is. Appeal of the games was significantly related to children's learning of Daisy commands, but child gender was not related to either Daisy or Kodable learning outcomes. Results suggest that young children can learn foundational coding skills via apps, especially when the apps are appealing to children.
KW - Apps
KW - Coding
KW - Computational thinking
KW - Digital games
KW - Educational technology
KW - STEM
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85054177356&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85054177356&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.compedu.2018.09.006
DO - 10.1016/j.compedu.2018.09.006
M3 - Article
VL - 128
SP - 52
EP - 62
JO - Computers and Education
JF - Computers and Education
SN - 0360-1315
ER -