How to Teach Programming to Beginners in a Playful Way?

Abstract

The teaching of informatics in most European countries begins at an early school age in the first grade of primary schools. The main topic and requirement of children's IT education is the development of IT literacy and digital culture, especially algorithmic and programming thinking to solve everyday problems of life in the 21st century. In different countries, a variety of educational tools and training programs are used in primary school computer science classes to develop the algorithmic and programming thinking of younger schoolchildren, and to develop their digital literacy as well. In addition, educational institutions have their platforms and websites or are engaged online in educational environments recommended by the leadership of schools and relevant ministries. Not all teachers who teach informatics are qualified and well prepared to use teaching aids and platforms of the new generation – that is, they lack the necessary digital literacy. Computer science teachers take appropriate training courses, and some of them are engaged in self-development and self-education in this field. The situation in teaching computer science in primary schools is complicated. Not only are there a lack of qualified teachers, but the schools do not even have the necessary technical and technological equipment. There is a lack of (electronic) teaching aids, high-quality and fast Internet connection, methodological guidance for teachers and access to teaching materials is insufficient. Often, if the school is well equipped with hardware and software, these resources are not used effectively. The biggest problems are in the area of ​​teaching programming. Many teachers involved in teaching this subject do not know how to program themselves. This article provides an overview of tools and possibilities for teaching programming in elementary school. Emphasis is placed on electronic support for teaching and learning, on various possibilities for teaching programming, on electronic and virtual tools, emulators and visualized simulation models, computer games that can be used to acquire basic knowledge and skills from programming, in a playful and entertaining way, both in school and out-of-school environments. Among the tools described are also several own applications that were developed at the authors’ university. Our experience proves that programmable games and robot kits can be adequately replaced with emulators and simulators for these devices. Another significant advantage of these is that they can also be used in distance learning. Programming in a simulation environment is just as fun as programming a real robot. The program compiled for robot control can also be tested with a visualized simulation experiment in the virtual space.