Abstract

Computational thinking has become a popular and important concept in education throughout the nation. Public libraries, with their technology services and their role as an informal learning space, have been tagged as an ideal place for computational thinking learning for children. However, the literature and research surrounding computational thinking is often vague and even misleading, presenting differing visions of what computational thinking is, what it should look like in practice, and how it might be evaluated for effectiveness. As a result, youth services librarians face many challenges in their attempts to understand, design, and evaluate computational thinking programs for their libraries. This paper explores the issues inherent in current computational thinking research and discusses the challenges they represent in designing and facilitating youth computational thinking programs in public libraries, as well as presents recommendations for best practices.

Highlights

  • Marissa GuidaraComputational thinking has become a popular and important concept in education throughout the nation

  • Computational thinking has become a popular term in recent years, a buzzword that just as finds its way into parenting magazine articles as it does academic research

  • The notion of computational thinking as a fundamental skill for the future has not gone unnoticed by governments, educators, and big businesses who are looking for ways to prepare children for the technology and economy of the future

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Summary

Marissa Guidara

Computational thinking has become a popular and important concept in education throughout the nation. Public libraries, with their technology services and their role as an informal learning space, have been tagged as an ideal place for computational thinking learning for children. Youth services librarians face many challenges in their attempts to understand, design, and evaluate computational thinking programs for their libraries. This paper explores the issues inherent in current computational thinking research and discusses the challenges they represent in designing and facilitating youth computational thinking programs in public libraries, as well as presents recommendations for best practices

Introduction
Computational thinking has been described as
Origins of Modern Computational Thinking
The Forgotten History of Computational Thinking
Reliance on Tools
Unplugged Programs
Traditional Library Models of Assessment
Technology and The Digital Divide
Outcome Based Assessments
Building on Library Strengths
Findings
Conclusion
Full Text
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