Abstract
Games are seen as environments that promote the engagement of children to the learning of Computational Thinking (CT) concepts. The new forms of interaction using body movements and gestures have increased in particular in video-games. However, few studies have been conducted to investigate how children feel and interact when using hand gestures in the context of learning tools. And this number becomes low when we look at studies about CT learning. In this article, we explored the feedback of 29 children about their interaction by using hand gestures in a game to stimulate the CT, i.e. a CT game. In the analysis, we explored how these forms of interaction impacted on the accomplishing of the game phases. Our findings revealed the children kept more engaged when using hand gestures, and consequently, this affected their concentration on the game purpose. To complement our investigation, we interviewed 8 elementary school teachers to gather their perceptions about the potential of using hand gestures and our game. The findings showed the teachers agreed that hand gestures are suitable to be used in learning tools. They also demonstrated interested in introducing the CT fundamentals in their classes. However, these teachers demonstrated some concerns about how to match the use of that technology to their teaching activities.
Highlights
The increase in the number of learning environments is not new for the area
We interviewed 8 teachers who belonged to an elementary school to collect their perceptions about both game versions and about the application of body movements activities in their classes
Children feedback To answer the RQ1 - What is the children feedback about the different game versions?, we considered the perspective of the children and the perspective of the researchers
Summary
The increase in the number of learning environments is not new for the area. these environments have evolved to become suitable to the demands of the new generation of students(Spector 2014; Boechler et al 2014). We explored from interviews the teachers’ perspective about the use of the CT game and the introduction of body and hand movements on learning activities. We considered that our investigation is relevant to the study of SLE due to body and hand movements represent innovative forms of interaction that can improve the students’ engagement on virtual learning environments (Gomes et al 2018). These new forms of interaction have become more present on new devices and in the daily of children and teachers (e.g. smartphones, tablets, videogames). From the teachers’ answers, we could found out that they considered the body movements and gestures important to learning activities, they pointed out some concerns regarding how to use the technology in their classes
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