As computational thinking (CT) is being embraced by educational systems worldwide, researchers and teachers have posed important questions such as “what to teach” and “what can be learned.” These questions are universally crucial to the learning of all subjects. Nevertheless, there is no up-to-date, systematic overview of CT education for K-9 students that attempt to provide answers to these crucial questions. Thus, this systematic review presents a synthesis of 55 empirical studies, providing evidence of the development of computational thinking through programming in Scratch, one of the most popular visual block programming languages in schools. The purpose of this review is to systematically examine the CT skills that can be obtained through Scratch in K-9 based on empirical evidence. This systematic review has adopted Brennan and Resnick's (2012) framework as the basis for defining and identifying the expected CT skills in K-9. The major findings entail what computational thinking skills students in K-9 can learn through Scratch in relation to the framework mentioned above, taking the progression of learning into account. Additional CT skills that are not captured by the framework were identified including input/output, reading, interpreting and communicating code, using multimodal media, predictive thinking, and human-computer interaction. These additional CT skills are not currently presented in Brennan and Resnick's (2012) framework and can be considered as possible supplements to their framework. Furthermore, the paper discusses the difficulties regarding assessment and the progression of the identified skills, as well as problems with study designs. Finally, the paper sets out suggestions for future studies based on the current research gaps.

A systematic review of learning computational thinking through Scratch in K-9

This paper aims to present how contemporary students are self-organizing using smart technologies (ST) and the future social implications of ST. The research model is based on the concepts of the soft system methodology, social systems thinking, innovative smart systems, and cybernetic and knowledge management.,The study contains elements of exploratory and descriptive case studies. Narrative analysis and interpretation of the collected data have been carried out.,Students mostly use ST to save time when studying and in their free time. Students are surprised by how ST developed and are cautious when imagining how the technology will change and affect their lives. They are concerned regarding several ethical dilemmas of using it, such as privacy and spending time with their loved ones and friends. Students perceive their self-organization in the future as very dependent on the availability of ST in institutional settings (e.g. education and business process) as well as their personal lives. Students discuss their present perceptions about what the future will be and note that social system will be more dynamic in terms of socialization, and loss of personal contact with their friends and family is seen as the main threat.,The research is qualitative, and the questionnaire was carried out among business students at the Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.,The paper offers an understanding of the usage of ST among business students. This study provides a road map of a few possible ways for usage of ST among students. The topic is also relevant for human resource managers, technology developers and marketing strategists for their better understanding of the behaviour of young people using ST in professional or private environments.,The findings can be useful for professors in identifying different learning methods that are useful for their students.,The authors offer conceptualizations of ST within the social innovation framework and provide a contemporary understanding young people’s ST usage.

Smart technologies as social innovation and complex social issues of the Z generation

The COVID-19 lockout situation affected people all over the world. Despite all of the disadvantages, this situation offered new experiences and perspectives and pushed education advances forward as never before. Something that seemed to be unreal became a worldwide reality within a few days. Instructors of all subjects at all educational levels moved to a virtual environment instantly. Higher education institutions, universities, and colleges seemed to be fairly prepared for this situation. Unfortunately, primary and secondary schools, especially in eastern and central Europe, never considered distance education as a valuable alternative before, so they did not have software, hardware, and staff prepared for such a situation. Moreover, students’ expectations and dilemmas concerning e-learning were not investigated earlier in the context of obligatory subject education. Moving to the virtual environment was particularly challenging for teachers, who wanted to transfer real class experiences into online lessons since chemistry is based on problems, observations, evidence, and experiments. Often, teachers claimed that they could be more efficient if they had knowledge, skills, and proper equipment to run classes online. This paper presents experiences of secondary chemistry teachers from Slovakia, participants in the IT Academy Project, who earlier, within the framework of the project, were equipped with the necessary skills and tools to run virtual classes, supported with data logging experiments. In this communication, the teachers’ efforts using online experimental practices are described, as well as reflections by their students about the experiences.

Online Experimentation during COVID-19 Secondary School Closures: Teaching Methods and Student Perceptions

Nowadays, companies are demanding better‐prepared professionals to succeed in a digital society, and the acquisition of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM)‐related competencies is a key issue. One of the main problems in this sense is how to integrate STEAM into the current educational curricula. This is not something related to a subject or educational trend but rather to new methodological approaches that can engage students. In this sense, such active methodologies that apply mechatronics and robotics could be an interesting path to pursue. Given this context, the first necessary task in evaluating the potential of this approach is to understand the landscape of the application of robotics and mechatronics in STEAM Education and how active methodologies are applied in this sense. To carry out this analysis in a systematic and replicable manner, it is necessary to follow a methodology. In this case, the researchers employ a systematic mapping review. This paper presents this process and its main findings. Fifty‐four studies have been selected out of 242 total studies analyzed. From these, beyond obtaining a clear vision of the STEAM landscape regarding project topics, we can also conclude that robotics and physical devices have been applied successfully with collaborative methodologies in STEAM Education. Regarding conclusions, this paper shows that robotics and mechatronics applied with active methodologies is to be a good means to engage students in STEAM disciplines and thus aid the acquisition of what is commonly known as “21st‐century skills.”

Fostering STEAM through challenge‐based learning, robotics, and physical devices: A systematic mapping literature review

The aim of this paper is to review the current existing development platforms in order to present one alternative for students as part as an Educational environment. Furthermore, the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education is an emerging trend which needs modular, adaptable and easy to use tools, these attention during the educational session. Additionally, this paper covers several applications based on different development platforms used currently.

Collaborative robotic educational tool based on programmable logic and Arduino

Robotic Education is becoming very popular these days. Simple robots are being used within STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education as a powerful tool which eases the way to teach STEM knowledge. Additionally, Robotics also provide an attractive manner to transform boring concepts into an amusing learning process. Along this paper, a new way to use robotic is presented. Instead of using robots in classrooms or remote laboratories, the proposal is to use robots at home. Currently, there are some alternatives on order to introduce educational robots at home. Along this article, Crumble is presented as a tool which can be used with the aim of deploying STEM knowledges at home joining adults and children.

Home-made robotic education, a new way to explore

Short Description-The aim of this paper is to introduce the use of Arduino, an established tool in the development of applications and deployment of educational content, as of a course related to the introduction to robotics. Robotics requires several skills and competencies that can be easily developed with tools like Arduino. These skills and competencies are related to the areas of knowledge used for the development of robotic applications, such as computer science, electricity, electronics and mechanics. Throughout this paper we present Arduino, the resources used for the deployment of the course and the results obtained from the educational experiences carried out. The results of the educational robotics course demonstrate how children with previous experience in Scratch programming, skills and competencies with simple Crumble-based robots can continue the learning process through classroom experiences using Arduino. In this way, students can improve skills and competencies already worked with tools such as Scratch and Crumble. Another important observation from the results is that it is important to adapt the difficulty of the content to each child. Finally, it is important to combine theory and practice to include fun and intertwined tasks with the challenges of applying theory to problem solving.

Arduino as an Educational Tool to Introduce Robotics

Robotics and computational thinking are ideal tools for developing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) pedagogy. A multitude of educational robotics tools have emerged in recent years. Some with a high price and great features, and others with a lower price and lower performance. There are also cost-effective options that allow you to tailor your services to tighter budgets. The presence of robots in our daily lives is becoming more and more common. Therefore, it is interesting that we are oriented to integrate robots in the different levels of our society. This workshop is focused on driving the same content across three different low-cost robotic educational tools. The first one is Scratch, interactive stories, games and animations can be programed. The second tool is Crumble, it is an easy-to-use programmable controller. Its programming interface uses a block programming language which eases its use by children aged below 14. The last but not the least is Arduino, Arduino is an open-source electronics platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software. It is a platform that incorporates a simple microcontroller and an interface development environment to create the applications to be downloaded into the board. This workshop is aimed to present the mentioned platforms as robotic educational tools for people as the first step to get into robotics world. Throughout this workshop an initiation to robotics is developed in the context of educational robotics.

Traffic lights through multiple robotic educational tools

Scratch Day is made up of a global network of events. Its main goal is to bring people together to celebrate Scratch. Scratch is a free encryption platform that can be used online and offline for children. Scratch Day events bring together young people from the Scratch community. During these meetings, attendees share projects, learn from each other and welcome newcomers. Robotics and computational thinking are ideal tools for developing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) pedagogy. Currently, innovation and motivation of students during the learning process are promoted by educational robotics tools. Robots are increasingly integrated into our society. To such an extent that robots are becoming more and more common in our everyday environment. This paper presents a workshop which is focused on two main objectives. The first one is to celebrate Scratch Day promoting Scratch locally. On the other hand, this event is aimed to present a robotic educational tool for people as the first step to get into robotics world. This workshop is aimed on those adults who want to discover what possibilities Scratch brings in the introduction to robotics. Throughout this workshop an initiation to Scratch is developed in the context of educational robotics. As the most significant results throughout the workshop, it is clearly demonstrated that Scratch is an ideal tool for children and adults with no previous programming or robotic experience to begin learning both through hands-on experiences. Throughout this work the importance of combining theory and practice is shown in order to include fun tasks intertwined with the challenges of applying theory to problem solving.

Scratch day to introduce robotics

Robotics and computational thinking are valuable tools for developing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) pedagogy, and to promote inclusion and integration of students. We currently have a multitude of robotic education tools at our disposal. These tools arise with the aim of promoting innovation and student motivation during the learning process. Robots are becoming more and more common in our society today. Therefore, it is important to integrate robots into all levels of our everyday life. This work is focused on presenting Raspberry Pi as enhancer of educational robotics. The first step is presenting robotics as a tool for promoting the inclusion and integration of students. For this work a background and overview is also provided. The third part proposed different setups to prepare a Raspberry Pi for remote activities and robotics using Arduino as hardware interface. The last but not the least is an open discussion with the aim of exchanging impressions and getting feedback from the attendees.

German Carro

Papers

Home-made robotic education, a new way to explore

Arduino as an Educational Tool to Introduce Robotics

Traffic lights through multiple robotic educational tools

Scratch day to introduce robotics

Robotics tips and tricks for inclusion and integration of students