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Programming Robots in Kindergarten to Express Identity: An Ethnographic Analysis

Programming Robots in Kindergarten to Express Identity: An Ethnographic Analysis
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Author(s): Marina U. Bers (Tufts University, USA)and Alyssa B. Ettinger (Tufts University, USA)
Copyright: 2012
Pages: 17
Source title: Robots in K-12 Education: A New Technology for Learning
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Bradley S. Barker (University of Nebraska – Lincoln, USA), Gwen Nugent (University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA), Neal Grandgenett (University of Nebraska-Omaha, USA)and Viacheslav I. Adamchuk (McGill University, USA)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-0182-6.ch008

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Abstract

This chapter presents a research program that uses robotics as a powerful tool to engage Kindergarten children in developing computational thinking and learning about the engineering design process. Using an ethnographic analysis of an experience in a Kindergarten classroom at the Jewish Community Day School (JCDS), a pluralistic school in Watertown, MA, in which children worked with robotics as a way to explore issues of identity, the chapter highlights both developmental and technological considerations that need to be addressed when engaging young children with robotic activities. This project used an innovative hybrid tangible programming system composed of interlocking wooden blocks, called CHERP, specifically designed to meet the developmental needs of young children. While many robotic programs highlight building aspects and their relationship to engineering education, the approach presented in this chapter complements this by focusing on programming by teaching powerful ideas from computer science at a very early age.

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