Nursery World - Learning & Development: Computational Thinking: Part 4

Activities that use computational thinking, such as giving a robot very simple instructions, teach problem-solving and encourages children to take a creative approach to technology. By Marc Faulder

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part 4

IF WE ARE TO PREPARE Foundation Stage children for the next phase of their education – and the world of work – then we need to give greater heed to developing their computational thinking skills.

It is this skillset that enables children to ‘enter’ the digital world and ultimately to write code and algorithms effectively – that is, creating step-by-step processes for a computer to follow, so that it does what you want it to do.

During the course of this series, we have seen that these skills incorporate the ability to:

What has also become apparent is the extent to which these skills mirror the Characteristics of Effective Learning (CoEL), in particular ‘Creating and thinking critically’. So, we must pay particular attention to how we scaffold activities to provide for these behaviours across the curriculum. We need to talk children through processes, breaking tasks into smaller steps and helping them find solutions to problems. Only with such support will children be able to make connections that secure their learning and enable them to progress.

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