Figure 1 shows a web-based platform for gathering computational thinking resources.
Figure 1. A Web-Based Platform
The landing page or home page imbedded with the Scratch maze game where by its code runs from (https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/203766342/). The game has two
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parts. Part 1, introduces the learners the basic concepts of computational thinking and scratch through animating the character. The part 2, is playing the game which has two levels. Playing the games is not the only target for but instead, we want kids to play the game then think of the stories behind the game to create their own game.
9.3 Conclusion
The study aimed to inform teachers, education stakeholders, and individuals who wish to bring computational thinking in classes. As mentioned from the introduction part, that computational thinking is a vital skill for everyone not just for computer scientists, making it happen in classes can be a challenge if no clear guidelines are provided. Many studies have discussed the importance of it and the use of different pedagogical tools such as game design, robotics activities, programming languages and computational tools. The mentioned pedagogical tools and many others are believed to enhance the development of computational thinking to students.
However, assessing the transfer of the skills gained via the mentioned pedagogical tools may seem like a challenge if it does no go beyond traditional classes especially in Tanzanian context. To the elementary teachers and pupils with different backgrounds, deep training, going beyond traditional classes, real-life projects, and motivation for both groups is required.
More training and motivation of computer related courses at the national level training center is required for elementary teachers who seem not even willing to teach any computer science subject with the reason that, they do not have foundation skills of computer-related subjects. We created a platform to get started with computational thinking skills using scratch as a starting point. In the future not only, the Scratch will be the only method but other pedagogical tools such Alice visual programming language, extended blocks of scratch in Arduino Starter Kit and Robotics activities. Apart from these, Google for education has created more resources to get started with computational thinking.
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