about the book club!
We used the flipgrid app to support our book club discussion.
About this Book
Coding as a Playground by Marina Umaschi Bers is the first book to focus on how young children (ages 7 and under) can engage in computational thinking and be taught to become computer programmers, a process that can increase both their cognitive and social -emotional skills. Readers will learn how coding can engage children as producers-and not merely consumers of technology in a playful way.
You will come away from this groundbreaking work with an understanding of how coding promotes developmentally appropriate experiences such as problem-solving, imagination, cognitive challenges, social interactions, motor skills, development, emotional exploration, and making different choices. You will also learn how to integrate coding into different curricular areas to promote literacy, math, science, engineering, and the arts through a project-based approach.
About the Author
Marina Umaschi Bers is a professor in the Eliot-Pearson of Child Study and Human Development and an adjunct professor in the Computer Science Department at Tufts University. She heads the Developmental Technologies Research group where she studies innovative ways to promote positive childhood development through new learning technologies. Marina co-developed the Scratch Jr programming language in collaboration withMitch Resnick from the MIT Media Lab and Paula Bonta from the PICO company. She is also the creator of KIBO, a robotics platform for children 4 to 7 that can be programmed with wooden blocks (no screen needed), which allows young builders to learn programming and engineering while integrating arts and crafts.
(Note: The above information was taken from the book “Coding as a Playground”.)
How to Participate
Each week in February, two new questions related to each of the (three) parts of the book will appear in the flipgrid are below. (See the schedule on the right.)
To join the discussion, leave your post in the Flipgrid area below. If you have trouble using Flipgrid below, go to this discussion on the Flipgrid site to leave your post. If you still have difficulties contact us.