VII Jornadas eMadrid "Education in exponential times". "Coding as a Playground: Young children, robots and kittens". Marina Umaschi Bers, Tufts U, EEUU. 04/07/2017.

1. Coding as a Playground:
Young Children, Robots and Kittens
Marina Umaschi Bers, Ph.D.
Professor, Child Development &
Computer Sciences
Director, DevTech research group
Tufts University
marina.bers@tufts.edu
@marinabers

3. Smart objects
Programmed objects

4. Seymour Papert, MIT
LOGO turtle
1967

5. Tufts University

6. Projects funded by the National Science Foundation
NSF DRL-1118897 & NSF DRL-1118664.
KIBO robot
ScratchJr

8. Jump
Scratch ScratchJr

9. http://www.scratchjr.org/

11. Only Nations NOT using ScratchJr:
Western Sahara, Eritrea, North Korea
ScratchJr User Analytics: Jan. 2016 - June
2017
By the Numbers
• Over 5 million total downloads
since 2014 launch
• Over 210,000 average weekly users
• 13.5 million projects created
• Over 400,000 projects shared via
email or AirDrop
• 1905 different registered languages
& dialects that have downloaded
ScratchJr
0
450.000
900.000
1.350.000
1.800.000
Jan-16
Feb-16
Mar-16
1-Apr
May-16
Jun-16
Jul-16
Aug-16
Sept-16
Oct-16
Nov-16
Dec-16
Jan-17
Feb-17
Mar-17
Apr-17
May-17
Jun-17
Total Session
Sessions wit
Sessions wit
Monthly Sessions
1,750,692

12. ScratchJr Analytics: Spain, Jan. 2016-June
2017
• Spain ranks 6th worldwide
• Over 500,000 sessions
(3.1% of the world total)
• Top 5 cities:
• Madrid: 21.5% of sessions
• Barcelona: 14.7% of
sessions
• Valencia: 2.8% of sessions
• Girona: 2.3% of sessions
• Seville: 2.1% of sessions
• Above average session
duration at 15 mins, 46
seconds

13. KIBO

22. http://kinderlabrobotics.com
Follow @KinderLabRobot
on Twitter for KIBO update

23. Powerful ideas from computer science
1. Algorithm
2. Modularization
3. Control structures
4. Representation
5. Design process
6. Debugging
7. Hardware/software

24. 1. Algorithm
Sequence of ordered steps to achieve a desired outcom

27. 2. Modularization
Breaking down a large task into smaller, manageable
actions

30. 3.Control structures
The guiding rules that determine the order in which a
series of instructions is executed

33. 4.Representation
Different ways to abstract and represent data.

36. 5. Design process
An iterative, creative process used to develop programs and objects that
involves several steps. It starts with an idea and ends with a product.

39. 6. Debugging
Systematic, step by step process of finding and correcting
errors
The only way it could work tomorrow The only way it could work

42. 7. Hardware/Software
Technology requires both hardware (physical devices to store, and process
data) and software (the instructions or code). Both hardware and software
interact with each other.

44. Early childhood

45. *Source: Heckman, James J. (2008). “Schools, Skills and Synapses,” Economic Inquiry, 46(3):
289-324
Programs targeted toward the earliest years
Preschool programs
Schooling
Job training
RateofReturnto
InvestmentinHumanCapital
4-50-3 School Post-SchoolPrenatal
Returns to a Unit Dollar Invested*

46. 46
Bers, M. (2012). “Designing Digital Experiences for Positive Youth Development: From Playpen to
Playground” Oxford University Press

49. Questions?
marina.bers@tufts.edu
@marinabers
This work is supported by:
NSF awards # DRL-0735657; NSF DRL-111889
I am grateful to students and staff in my DevTech research group at Tufts University!
http://www.tufts.edu/
~mbers01/