Many public libraries offer coding programs for children and young people and provide access to coding games via their websites (Australian Library and Information Association [ALIA], 2017; American Library Association [ALA], n.d.). It has been proposed that early exposure to foundational coding skills makes children more likely to eventually choose STEM careers (EBSCOpost, 2019). Bers (2017) argues that coding is more than a set of skills; she describes coding as a type of literacy that allows children to become producers of digital content rather than merely consumers. I was interested in trying these games for myself so that I could gain a better understanding of how they effective they were as educational tools.
Coding can be defined as “the process of assigning a set of symbols that can be interpreted by a computer” and is built around three main concepts: sequencing, loops and conditional statements (Pila et al, 2019, p 53). There are many free coding games for children available online, but I chose to try Blockly Games; I spent about two hours working through a series of games designed to introduce these foundational skills to children aged eight and older. Blockly (n.d.) is a JavaScript library that represents coding concepts as interlocking blocks.
For the first hour I found Blockly Games quite enjoyable; there were a variety of games and each was focused on a particular skill. As I progressed through the levels I felt that I was developing more of an understanding of how coding worked. However, as the games became increasingly challenging I often became stuck, and I found that some levels did not provide clear instructions. In addition, some of the games required a good understanding of mathematical concepts such as xy coordinates and angles, which many 8-year-olds would struggle with. Indeed, Pila et al (2019) found that playing tablet-based coding games did appear increase coding foundational skills, they noted that the presence of educators to assist children as they worked through the games was likely to be important. I learned that although coding games may be a useful tool for engaging children, they do not replace instruction from a teacher or librarian.
In light of this, I became concerned that my own knowledge gaps would make me an ineffective instructor. This is not uncommon amongst librarians; ALA (n.d.) found that many librarians feel intimidated by coding due to their own lack of experience, and so can be reluctant to deliver library coding classes. However, ALA point out that librarians answer reference questions about subjects that they often have no personal knowledge of, and so should be able to use similar skills to seek solutions for coding class participants. I feel that a good way of addressing my own concerns about delivering coding-related programs for children would be to explore professional and scholarly literature about how other information professionals approach unfamiliar technologies.
Featured image “Campamento tecnolóxico de introdución á robótica e programación con Arduino, na Biblioteca Infantil e Xuvenil (Durán Loriga)” by Bibliotecas Municipais da Coruña is marked with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
References
American Library Association. (n.d.) Libraries and coding for children and teens: Key conclusions. https://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/Libraries%20and%20Coding%20Writeup.pdf
Australian Library and Information Association. (2017). How public libraries contribute to the STEM agenda 2017. http://read.alia.org.au/file/594/download?token=htRNNdh3
Bers, M. U. (2017, September 29). Why kids should code. Tufts Now. https://now.tufts.edu/articles/manifesto-kids-code?utm_source=Tufts+ow+XHYPHENXX+acultynd+taff&utm_campaign=34cb1424ff-Tufts_Now_external_170927&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e2c82ed1e3-34cb1424ff-207435605
Blockly. (n.d.). https://developers.google.com/blockly
EBSCOpost. (2019, March 23). Coding in libraries: Benefits and tools. https://www.ebsco.com/blogs/ebscopost/coding-libraries-benefits-and-tools
Pila, S., Alade, F., Sheehan, K. J., Lauricella, A. R., & Wartella, E. A. (2019). Learning to code via tablet applications: An evaluation of Daisy the Dinosaur and Kodable as learning tools for young children. Computers & Education, 128, 52-62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2018.09.006