Computational Participation

I resonated with many things in the article "From Computational Thinking to Computational Participation in K–12 Education" by Yasmin B. Kafai, especially her statement that "to learn programming for the sake of programming goes nowhere for children unless they can put those skills to use in a meaningful way" (p.27).

As I reflected on the article's focus of shifting from individual computational thinking to collaborative computational participation, I thought of my own experiences at my elementary school. In honesty, coding and computational thinking is not a huge focus within my school and so I struggled to think of relevant examples that connect. This is an area of my own practice that I would like to get better at.

One example that came to mind is from a kindergarten teacher at my school. As part of their social studies focus on community, she creates large coding grids on large boards with masking tape. Students place loose parts on the boards as components of their community such as buildings, trees, and signs. They then use arrow cards to move their character throughout the community. I have included some photos below. I think this is a great introduction to computational thinking for younger students and align with Kafai's (2016) opinion that "computational thinking and programming are social, creative practices. They offer a context for making applications of significance for others, communities in which design sharing and collaboration with others are paramount" (p.26).

Questions:

1. Although computational thinking and participation is important, many teachers feel  like just another additional thing to try to fit into their schedules. What are examples that you have seen where computational thinking has supported and been integrated into another area of the curriculum area?

2. Do you think that classroom teachers should be expected to teach computational thinking and coding if they have no experience or confidence using various programs? Or do you think it is better taught as part of the library program?

References:

Kafir, Yasmin B. “From Computational Thinking to Computational Participation in K–12 Education.” Shibboleth Authentication Request, Aug. 2016, web-p-ebscohost-com.proxy.queensu.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=3c4f60a7-1710-4d4a-9a3a-3d28765598d7%40redis.

Today in Kindergarten. "Coding and Storytelling." Instagram, May 11, 2022, https://www.instagram.com/p/CdcFu6RpLcd/