Children Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Online Coding as a Supplement to in-person Boot Camps

Abstract

The wide spread of Corona virus or Covid-19 pandemic across the world has affected educational system worldwide, resulting to partial closures of schools. In line with the efforts to contain the spread, governments in different countries have issued directives to close schools to curtail the virus. As a result, there is a paradigm shift in the educational sector with the rise of Online/E-Learning and Teaching. The purpose of this study was to examine children perceptions of online coding in a boot camp program in Nigeria during COVID-19 period. The data were collected through interviews and questionnaire from the participants. A sample of fifty students in primary schools (K-8) were randomly selected. The students were examined based on their previous knowledge using the normal classroom teaching and the knowledge acquired using the e-learning platform on Computational thinking via unplugged activities and scratch programming. Sample t-test was used to compare the level of skill/knowledge acquired during online coding class and coding in formal contexts. The result shows that there is no significant difference between the teaching methods because p-value >5% significance level. However, the class activities were hampered by the difficulties in breaking the participants into groups and technical challenges as a result of internet and power failure. It was concluded that both interventions significantly improved students’ computational thinking skills and competency.