Abstract
Learning to programme is not easy. And so, for the last few years, many online environments have been developed to help kids acquire the coding skills needed in the 21st century in a fun and interactive way. This paper uses a mixed approach to investigate elementary students’ performance in programming after engaging in a 2-week online programme using the Tynker platform. The data was collected through observations and surveys. Children used Blockly programming (Python-based) to create animated stories, collages, and games. At the end of the program, the learners were assessed by a multiple-choice quiz. Additionally, they created a project that covered all the concepts covered during the program.
Successful examples from classroom observations are drawn to illustrate how students make practical use of the Tynker platform. Additionally, 117 closed-question surveys were analysed to determine the students’ accurate perceptions about the coding and online platform. The interpretation of the findings implies that the students’ programming knowledge acquisition follows a progressive path. However, the findings show that while all students learned the basics of coding, there were some differences in performance and understanding. This paper bridges the gap related to the insufficient attention in educational research towards teaching coding to primary students. The findings would help stakeholders to develop more capacity-building training programmes for young learners.
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This research article was a project submitted to the British University in Dubai during the master’s studies of the first author.
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Elsawah, W., Thabet, R.A. (2023). The Effectiveness of Tynker Platform in Helping Early Ages Students to Acquire the Coding Skills Necessary for 21st Century. In: Al-Emran, M., Al-Sharafi, M.A., Shaalan, K. (eds) International Conference on Information Systems and Intelligent Applications. ICISIA 2022. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 550. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16865-9_30
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