Computer Science Education for elementary school students.
Curriculum Development and Implementation
•Sridhar Iyer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering at IIT Bombay. His research interests include: eLearning technologies, networking protocols and multimedia tools for distance education, wireless networking and applications. He can be reached at sri@iitb.ac.in
•Farida Umrani is a post-doc fellow at Department of Computer science and engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. She can be reached at farida@it.iitb.ac.in
•Malathy Baru is a project manager at the Computer science and engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. She can be reached at malati@it.iitb.ac.in
6. Curriculum
• For each standard, syllabus is defined by:
– the topics that should be taught (“what”).
– the reasons for doing so (“why”).
– the plan (“how”).
• Three aspects addressed within the syllabus :
– Concepts: Learning computer science concepts that are generally useful in many areas as well as some concepts that are specific to computer usage/functioning.
– Usage Skills: Developing hands-on skill in the use of various hardware/software and programming packages/languages.
– Social Aspects: Understanding ethical and security related issues of computer and Internet usage.
• Spiral organization of the curriculum.
• Detailed syllabus available online.
• Download curriculum from:
http://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/~sri/ssrvm/
•FOSS used : Edubuntu operating system and Open source educational games.
•Creative commons license.
•Team comprised people from varied disciplines.
•Download Book I from: http://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/~sri/ssrvm/
Computer-Masti-Book-1.pdf
• Field work for 10 months. Participants of study – 105 students of class 1 -5 - divided into mixed-sex groups of five to eight students.
• One session per week of 30 minutes for each class, 4 laptops provided hands-on experience to students.
• Students were taught basic computer skills, ergonomic/ safety values, applications such as paint, word processor, media player. Exercises in algorithmic thinking and logical reasoning through computer based and paper-pencil activities.
• Class III and IV - Scratch - a tile-based visual programming with intuitive user interfaces - was taught.
9. Structure of each lesson
11. Field Insights
• Elementary school students are avid learners and explore the various computer applications with minimal assistance
• Computer-based activities interest the students and can be used for developing skills in other subjects.
• Collaborative learning enabled students to proactively explore various applications.
• No gender differences are observed in computer proficiency and usage, likely reason - controlled exposure in the school setting ensures equal opportunity to use the technology.
• Confidence of teacher with the technology has a positive impact on confidence of students.
•Rural/ adult adaptation for Information Literacy.
•Multilingual content – translation in vernacular languages.
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
1. Introduction
•Computer education provides unique opportunity for boosting natural ways of learning.
•Integration of ICT into the school curriculum is instrumental in developing a culture of thinking, lifelong learning and
social responsibility .
• However, less than 10 % of all the schools have a computer.
2. Rural Urban Divide
% of schools having
computers in urban areas
% of schools having computers in rural areas
Source:
Mehta, A. (2005). Elementary education in rural/urban areas: Analytic tables. Where do we stand?
Less than 5 5-10
10-20 20-40 40-60 `
3. Research Gap
Issues like :
• Absence of clearly defined computer science curriculum, inappropriate teaching sources.
• Computers being used mainly as entertainment devices.
Can be addressed by:
• Clearly defining Computer Science Curriculum.
• Providing appropriate teaching resources.
• Development of algorithmic thinking.
• Improving organisational, programming skills.
4. Actions Taken
• Developed Computer Science Curriculum for Elementary and Middle School.
• Developed Teaching Material
• Prepared Teachers handbook : Level I to IV
• Textbook for Level I printed
• Conducted Pilot test in one school (July 2007 – April 2008).
• Assess impact of Curriculum
• Iterate curriculum based on feedback
5. Three Dimensions of Computer Fluency
COMPUTER FLUENCY
•Computer ethics, health & safety
- share resources - posture exercises - Internet safety
• Computer skills
- skills that are currently essential - e.g. basic OS
features, Internet
a) BEHAVIOURAL
c) EFFECTIVE
• Computer science fundamentals
- how/why applications work
- programming, modeling, abstraction
- ability to navigate
information structures and limits of IT.
•General mental capacitates
- algorithmic thinking - abstract reasoning - organizational skills - problem solving skills - information handling
(what-if analysis, know-why, know-how)
- collaboration
b) COGNITIVE
• Positive attitude towards computers/Internet, information process
• Increased interest in learning about computers
8. Field Survey 7. Teaching Material
Lesson Content
10. Sample Content from Computer Masti
Moz,
the teacher
Illustration of what activities can be done on
computer Worksheet sample: Search for
computer parts
