Introductory Programming Ecosystem for Children with Mobile Application
Tsimplinas, Anastasios (2014)
Tsimplinas, Anastasios
Tampereen ammattikorkeakoulu
2014
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2014120518647
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2014120518647
Tiivistelmä
Programming has an enormous presence in everyday life of 21 century. New generation students are surrounded by computer technology and will possibly do in the future an occupation that has not been invented yet. Digital literacy is the ability to understand and use digital technologies effectively for everyday tasks. Digital literacy is as important for children today as reading and writing skills.
The aim of this thesis was to design and implement a mobile application for tablets that could introduce children to the basics of programming logic with an easy and interactive way. Children by playing with a friendly user interface will be able to understand better of what happens inside computers and also improve their math and logic skills. Using the tablet, children can develop their code by arranging different shapes-pieces-images-blocks that represent simple programming commands as part of a game. The blocks include basic functions as “move”, loops as “repeat” and conditions as “if”. Additionally children they could see the logic results and actions in reality as interaction with a Lego Mindstorms™ EV3 robot. This will make them also more curious with the magical world of robotics.
This master’s thesis starts with an introduction on the importance of teaching young children concepts of programming and we continue with the exploration of the background and current state solutions in the area of children programming. After the taxonomy of the various programming environments we present comparative studies between the different interfaces. Based on the comparisons and studies we have explored, we propose a mobile application for tablets that is isomorphic with a tangible programming language that will create a full introductory programming ecosystem, ready to bridge the gap between the tangible and graphical solutions on the area of programming for children. As a conclusion we present the different issues raised during the design and development phase of our application and the future work we intent to carry out.
The aim of this thesis was to design and implement a mobile application for tablets that could introduce children to the basics of programming logic with an easy and interactive way. Children by playing with a friendly user interface will be able to understand better of what happens inside computers and also improve their math and logic skills. Using the tablet, children can develop their code by arranging different shapes-pieces-images-blocks that represent simple programming commands as part of a game. The blocks include basic functions as “move”, loops as “repeat” and conditions as “if”. Additionally children they could see the logic results and actions in reality as interaction with a Lego Mindstorms™ EV3 robot. This will make them also more curious with the magical world of robotics.
This master’s thesis starts with an introduction on the importance of teaching young children concepts of programming and we continue with the exploration of the background and current state solutions in the area of children programming. After the taxonomy of the various programming environments we present comparative studies between the different interfaces. Based on the comparisons and studies we have explored, we propose a mobile application for tablets that is isomorphic with a tangible programming language that will create a full introductory programming ecosystem, ready to bridge the gap between the tangible and graphical solutions on the area of programming for children. As a conclusion we present the different issues raised during the design and development phase of our application and the future work we intent to carry out.