Paper Info
Title
The social turn in K-12 programming: moving from computational thinking to computational participation
Abstract
In this conceptual paper, we argue that recent developments in K-12 programming education are suggestive of what can be called a "social turn", a shift in the field in which learning to code has shifted from being a predominantly individualistic and tool-oriented approach to now one that is decidedly sociologically and culturally grounded in the creation and sharing of digital media. We discuss in detail three dimensions of this social turn (1) from writing code to creating applications, (2) from composing "from scratch" to remixing the work of others, and (3) from designing tools to facilitating communities. These three shifts illustrate how the development of artifacts, tools, and communities of programming lead us to move from computational thinking to computational participation. We draw from examples of past and current research, both inside and outside of school, and situate these developments in the context of current discussions around computational thinking, which has become a driving force in revitalizing programming in K-12 curricula and altogether broadening participation in computing.
Year
DOI
Venue
2013
10.1145/2445196.2445373
SIGCSE
Keywords
Field
DocType
social turn,driving force,k-12 curriculum,current discussion,computational thinking,k-12 programming education,recent development,digital media,current research,conceptual paper
Scratch,Computer science,Computational thinking,Knowledge management,Curriculum,Programming education,Digital media,Individualism
Conference
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
15
0.66
10
Authors
2
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Yasmin B. Kafai156174.54
Quinn Burke2667.49