Coding and Computational Thinking: Using Arduino to Acquire Problem-Solving Skills

Abstract

In Part I, “Exploring the use of digital technologies in school education, various themes emerged from different areas of expertise”. In the chapter “Digital ethnicity: Social belonging in the internet age”, Adams and DeVaney highlight the impact that the interaction between people and digital media is having on social values. The authors present a set of ethnicity aspects that can be affected by a premature and prolonged interaction with digital communication channels. The chapter posits that the digital ethnicity scale is a valuable instrument and that it assists the identification of digital profiles, which offer insight into the shifting educational and social demands of evolving societal groups. “The use of virtual reality at lower secondary schools”, a chapter by Keller, Brucker-Kley, and Ebert, explores the use of virtual reality in the context of Swiss secondary schools. The authors developed a learning unit, which resorted to the use of virtual reality to test its effectiveness in terms of learning benefits. Although the learning unit did result in learning success, their results show that no substantial learning improvements were registered in comparison with the traditional teaching method. In Part II, technology supported STEM school education, the authors examine several educational settings that adopt technology to enhance the many dimensions of the learning process. Rossano, Rosell and Quercia in their chapter titled “Coding and computational thinking – using Arduino to acquire problem solving skills” emphasize the importance of developing elementary coding and computational thinking skills from childhood, not only for programming, but to assist students to perfect problem solving competences and to gain a more comprehensive operational knowledge. TS - CrossRef