Computational thinking in early childhood education: an análisis through the Computer Science Unplugged

Abstract

There has been an increased determination to introduce coding and computational thinking early in education. So, programming has progressively grown and got an essential focus in European education following international trends. This idea of introducing computer programming into the classroom it’s not recent; it came in 1960 by the investigations of Seymour Papert. The potentialities of teaching children's programming languages as an incubator of powerful ideas started in that decade, but it extended and continues to be used nowadays in a vast way. The programming was used to engage children in new ways of thinking, but much more critical than that, putting the student in a role to think about the thinking process. So with this context in mind, we aim to present a series of important ideas that rule the way that Computational Thinking could be applied inside of the Pre-School classroom. For that, we identify in this research the strategies and methodologies that allow teachers to implement these activities with children. Stating good practices and tools, pointing out some tips and ideas on designing projects in Pre-School Education that will allow the working of the computational thinking with the students of the XXI century.