2019
Heljakka, Katriina; Ihamäki, Pirita; Tuomi, Pauliina; Saarikoski, Petri
Gamified Coding: Toy Robots and Playful Learning in Early Education Proceedings Article
In: 2019 International Conference on Computational Science and Computational Intelligence (CSCI), pp. 800-805, IEEE, 2019, ISBN: 978-1-7281-5584-5.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Coding, Computer programming, Gamification, Physical play, Toy robots
@inproceedings{Heljakka2019b,
title = {Gamified Coding: Toy Robots and Playful Learning in Early Education},
author = {Katriina Heljakka and Pirita Ihamäki and Pauliina Tuomi and Petri Saarikoski},
doi = {10.1109/CSCI49370.2019.00152},
isbn = {978-1-7281-5584-5},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-12-05},
booktitle = {2019 International Conference on Computational Science and Computational Intelligence (CSCI)},
pages = {800-805},
publisher = {IEEE},
abstract = {This paper explores the activity of coding with smart toy robots Dash and Botley as a part of playful learning in the Finnish early education context. The findings of our study demonstrate how coding with the two toy robots was approached, conducted and played by Finnish preschoolers aged 5-6 years. The main conclusion of the study is that preschoolers used the toy robots with affordances related to coding mainly in developing gamified play around them by designing tracks for the toys, programming the toys to solve obstacle paths, and competing in player-generated contests of dexterity, speed and physically mobile play.},
keywords = {Coding, Computer programming, Gamification, Physical play, Toy robots},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
This paper explores the activity of coding with smart toy robots Dash and Botley as a part of playful learning in the Finnish early education context. The findings of our study demonstrate how coding with the two toy robots was approached, conducted and played by Finnish preschoolers aged 5-6 years. The main conclusion of the study is that preschoolers used the toy robots with affordances related to coding mainly in developing gamified play around them by designing tracks for the toys, programming the toys to solve obstacle paths, and competing in player-generated contests of dexterity, speed and physically mobile play.