PED 3119 Blog Post #3

hwalt073
Mar 6, 2017
2 min read

Topic: Why are computational thinking and coding considered foundational literacies today? How could you integrate these concepts into the work you will do in classrooms? And how do these concepts connect to media and information literacies? Resources for teachers on computational thinking and/or coding?

When referring to computational thinking in the classroom setting many often think that students need to have the proficiencies of a computer scientist. When in reality computational thinking refers to students’ ability to use the following skills: decomposition, abstraction, pattern recognition and algorithms. These ideologies are considered foundational literacies for students in todays classroom because they can help to support 21st century skills and digital citizenship. They prepare students to become active and reflective in the digital society presented in a classroom and the real world. Computational thinking and coding helps students to become problem solvers and teaches students to find endless possibilities for creative problem solving.

These concepts are able to connect to media and information literacies because they share the common goal of wanting to make students informed and skilled participants in the digital world. If students are creating, coding or analyzing digital tools they can strengthen their technological and analytical abilities that students require in order to become digital citizens in the classroom. These concepts can help students’ access and evaluate information as well as use it in an ethical manner when it comes to media and information literacies.

I have already observed the benefits of coding and computational thinking in my practicum classrooms. For example, students are able to use their decomposition skills to solve word problems and write sentences in language arts. In terms of patterning students use this skill when looking at cause and effect relationships in science. I have also witnessed students using the coding software Scratch to create a cartoon. Makey Makey is also a great tool to integrate in the classroom to help promote computational thinking.

During classroom time we were able to manipulate the following digital tools (click on the links for further information!):

I can see how each of these tools can be integrated into the classroom and help to support computational thinking in the students development. Each of these technologies can help to support a variety of subjects. It is very apparent that math is a prominent link to each of these tools but they can also be used across the curriculum.

The following paper helps to support computational thinking in the classroom, it provides definitions and a framework for understanding: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e4f3/c24924c5a707a196b2015494c829c15618d1.pdf

This website looks at the result of using coding in the classroom and whether it helps to enhance thinking and learning in the classroom: http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2015/11/computational_thinking_teaches_kids_coding_collaboration_and_problem_solving.html

The following paper does an excellent job describing the importance of computational thinking and coding in the classroom:

Gretter, S., & Yadav, A. (2016). Computational Thinking and Media & Information Literacy: An Integrated Approach to Teaching Twenty-First Century Skills. TechTrends, 60(5), 510–516. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-016-0098-4

As well check out the following Twitter accounts for inspiration around computational thinking and coding: