Preschool Computational Thinking
While computational thinking (CT) has received increasing attention over the past decade, CT in early learning settings is an emerging area of focus. Our National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded project, a collaboration with SRI International, Edfinity, and Curious Media, aimed to identify CT skills that align with the abilities and interests of preschool children (ages 3-5) and examine how CT can be integrated meaningfully to promote adaptive learning strategies consequential for early learning. Read more about the project findings on our blog.
In this exploratory project, we focus on this subset of CT skills:
Abstraction: identifying relevant detail and hiding unnecessary detail
Problem Decomposition: breaking down problems or tasks into smaller parts
Algorithms: creating and following a sequence of steps to meet an end goal or to solve a problem
Watch the video for examples of what these look like in families’ and children’s everyday lives.
