Computer Science Education for elementary school students.
Curriculum Development and Implementation
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
1. Introduction
3. Research Gap
•Computer education provides unique opportunity for
boosting natural ways of learning.
•Integration of ICT into the school curriculum is instrumental
in developing a culture of thinking, lifelong learning and
social responsibility .
• However, less than 10 % of all the schools have a computer.
2. Rural Urban Divide
of clearly defined computer science curriculum,
inappropriate teaching sources.
• Computers being used mainly as entertainment devices.
COMPUTER
FLUENCY
a) BEHAVIOURAL
Can be addressed by:
•
•
•
•
• Computer skills
Clearly defining Computer Science Curriculum.
Providing appropriate teaching resources.
Development of algorithmic thinking.
Improving organisational, programming skills.
- skills that are
currently essential
- e.g. basic OS
features, Internet
- algorithmic thinking
- abstract reasoning
- organizational skills
- problem solving skills
- information handling
(what-if analysis, know-why,
know-how)
- collaboration
• Iterate curriculum based on feedback
• Computer science
fundamentals
- how/why applications
work
- programming, modeling,
abstraction
- ability to navigate
information structures
and limits of IT.
c) EFFECTIVE
5-10
20-40
`
- posture exercises
- Internet safety
•General mental
capacitates
• Conducted Pilot test in one school (July 2007 – April 2008).
• Assess impact of Curriculum
10-20
- share resources
b) COGNITIVE
• Developed Computer Science Curriculum for Elementary
and Middle School.
• Developed Teaching Material
• Prepared Teachers handbook : Level I to IV
• Textbook for Level I printed
Less than 5
•Computer ethics,
health & safety
4. Actions Taken
% of schools having
computers in rural areas
% of schools having
computers in urban areas
Issues like :
• Absence
5. Three Dimensions of Computer Fluency
• Positive attitude towards computers/Internet,
information process
• Increased interest in learning about
computers
40-60
Source:
Mehta, A. (2005). Elementary education in rural/urban areas: Analytic tables. Where do we stand?
6. Curriculum
• For each standard, syllabus is defined by:
– the topics that should be taught (“what”).
– the reasons for doing so (“why”).
– the plan (“how”).
• Three aspects addressed within the syllabus :
– Concepts: Learning computer science concepts that are generally useful in
many areas as well as some concepts that are specific to computer
usage/functioning.
– Usage Skills: Developing hands-on skill in the use of various
hardware/software and programming packages/languages.
– Social Aspects: Understanding ethical and security related issues of
computer and Internet usage.
7. Teaching Material
•FOSS used : Edubuntu operating system and Open
source educational games.
•Creative commons license.
•Team comprised people from varied disciplines.
•Download Book I from:
http://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/~sri/ssrvm/Computer-Masti-Book-1.pdf
9. Structure of each lesson
• Elementary school students are avid learners and explore
the various computer applications with minimal assistance
• Computer-based activities interest the students and can be
used for developing skills in other subjects.
• Collaborative learning enabled students to proactively
explore various applications.
• No gender differences are observed in computer proficiency
and usage, likely reason - controlled exposure in the school
setting ensures equal opportunity to use the technology.
• Confidence of teacher with the technology has a positive
impact on confidence of students.
• One session per week of 30 minutes for each class, 4 laptops provided
hands-on experience to students.
• Students were taught basic computer skills, ergonomic/ safety values,
applications such as paint, word processor, media player. Exercises in
algorithmic thinking and logical reasoning through computer based and
paper-pencil activities.
10. Sample Content from Computer Masti
Moz,
the teacher
11. Field Insights
• Field work for 10 months. Participants of study – 105 students of class
1 -5 - divided into mixed-sex groups of five to eight students.
• Class III and IV - Scratch - a tile-based visual programming with
intuitive user interfaces - was taught.
• Spiral organization of the curriculum.
• Detailed syllabus available online.
• Download curriculum from:
http://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/~sri/ssrvm/
Lesson Content
8. Field Survey
Illustration of what activities can be done on
computer
12. Future Plans
•Rural/ adult adaptation for Information Literacy.
•Multilingual content – translation in vernacular
languages.
13. School Implementation
Worksheet sample: Search for
computer parts
Contact Details
•Sridhar Iyer is an Associate Professor in the Department
of Computer Science & Engineering at IIT Bombay. His
research interests include: eLearning technologies,
networking protocols and multimedia tools for distance
education, wireless networking and applications. He can
be reached at [email protected]
•Farida Umrani is a post-doc fellow at Department of
Computer science and engineering, Indian Institute of
Technology
Bombay.
She
can
be
reached
at
[email protected]
•Malathy Baru is a project manager at the Computer
science and engineering, Indian Institute of Technology
Bombay. She can be reached at [email protected]