Week 8: Chapter 17 reading

I am so sorry for adding this after my Assessment Part b task. It was saved as a draft and I forgot to publish it before adding my assessment. I also accidentally left my textbook in my friends car so it was a challenge to get it back in time so that I could reflect on it in my blog before the due date.

Computational Programming

This chapter reading was one that I found quite interesting. The chapter outlined the ways in which technology and programming support unique, individual learning and the two perspectives in programming which contribute to our understandings. At the end of the reading, I found myself wanting to know more about this subject.

The first theoretical perspective that was outlined was "Constructionist Perspective" which can be simply defined as "constructionism evokes the idea of learning-by-making" (Papert, 1991). When students in engage in constructing something meaningful and go through a process with their peers, they are constructing new knowledge.

The second perspective that is outlined is "Problematizing" which Skoblow (2001) emphasizes that McGann compels teachers to acknowledge that "reading and teaching are ways of problematizing sites of inquiry and that by enraging in them, one engages above all in a kind of uncertainty." Probelmatizing uses the combination of cognitive and collaborative skills.

To demonstrate this in the classroom, you could again use the program "Scratch" and the assessment task where students in small groups design their game. Through their collaboration, they will pose questions amongst each other which will encourage them to problem solve and use logical thinking. They will then use computational skills to complete their task.

To reflect on this chapter, I tried to branch out and look at some other resources on google scholar to get definitions of the theoretical practices outlined in the chapter.


Reference:

McGann, R., & Leavy, A. (2014). 17 Computer programming in the primary school. Teaching and Learning with ICT in the Primary School, 198.

Papert, S., & Harel, I. (1991). Situating constructionism. Constructionism, 36, 1-11.
Skoblow, J. (2001). Reading Fiction/Teaching Fiction/Reading Teaching: A Response. Pedagogy, 1(2), 399-404.