Kids' Club — Information Technology Research with Kids

Pasi J. Eronen, Erkki Sutinen, Mikko Vesisenaho and Marjo Virnes Department of Computer Science, University of Joensuu

P.O. Box 111, 80101 JOENSUU, Finland E-mail: {peronen, sutinen, mvirnes}@cs.joensuu.fi, mikko.vesisenaho@joensuu.fi

Abstract

The Kids’ Club is an activating research environment where children between 10 and 13 act together with research workers for developing novel concretizing technique systems for educational technology. It is noteworthy that in the Kids’ Club not only the kids are learning, but the interaction between the research workers and the kids is bi-directional. It is well justified to claim that the kids are an essential part of the research community surrounding the Kids’ Club. In addition to science education and research activities, the kids also benefit as they are grown to become active doers of future society based on information technology. 1. Introduction

The main idea for launching the Kids’ Club project was to arouse young pupils’ interest in information technology (IT), from the research and development point of view. It was also recognized that regular schooling system lacks time and resources to give such specialized teaching.

The Kids' Club project begun at the Department of Computer Science (CS) in Autumn 2001. The main idea of the Kids' Club project is related to technology education and K-12 programs [2] run in the United States, where kids interested in academically flavored topics are encouraged to join clubs run on university campuses. In these clubs kids have an opportunity to study skills of their interests in playful, non-school like environment, where there is room for innovative ideas and alternative approaches. As its counterparts in the States, also the Kids' Club at our department is meant to be an open-minded place with lots of room for individual needs.

In addition to the ideas originating from the conventional K-12 programs we want to emphasize that there are also major differences between those and one’s applied to the Kids’ Club. The Kids’ Club is a living laboratory, where not only the kids learn [6], but the relationship between the kids and research workers is bi-directional. By this bi-directionality we mean that the kids

are an essential part of the research done with them. Their visions and ideas are taken seriously meaning that they are major contributors for research done in the Kids’ Club. In our opinion, this represents totally new research paradigm in CS research.

The result we aim at is that the kids participating in the club would enjoy their conceivably first steps within IT, find it interesting and perhaps later continue their studies in it. We also want to get more girls to Kids’ Club helping them to become interested in IT. Nevertheless, we presume that experiences in the club would benefit the kids to be open minded towards technological progress, but also active and criticizing members of the future's information society.

We study an activity model of the Kids' Club environment and a use of varied technologies and concretizing tools, e.g. robots, as a part of learning process. From the research point of view, the entire Kids’ Club project we research and develop novel ways and methods for learning and teaching, but also create tools for education from the viewpoint of teaching technology. It is also considered that with the help of kids, who have not been too "neutralized" by schooling, it is possible to find interesting solutions for problems we ran into. 2. Theoretical Foundations

The idea of the Kids’ Club is based on constructionism that emphasizes the assumption [12] that children will do their best to find the specific knowledge they need for themselves.

For our purposes learning can be divided roughly into three different categories (Table 1): traditional way of learning in a normal school class environment, learning in a classroom with concretizing tools and learning in virtual environments, which are not bound to any physical place [3]. This division is not absolute without any clear border lines, since elements of learning overlap each other. For example concretizing tools can be added to the traditional learning, but also they can be applied to learning in virtual environment as an observational instrument. The function of division is to give a rough line to consider learning from different perspectives and to show elements that we

331

0-473-08801-0/01 $20.00 © 2002 IEEE

Traditional learning [1] Using robotics and

concretizing tools in learning [5,7]

Learning in virtual environment [10]

Didactic approach Theoretical Cognitive conflict and joyful learning Diverse

Learning strategies From detailed to general information

From general to detailed information Learner specific

Goals of learning (knowledge, skills, opinions, values, motivation)

Aim is to reach set learning goals that usually are certain knowledge or skills.

Influencing one’s opinions and motivation, deeper adoption and understanding of knowledge or skill.

Aim is to reach set learning goals that usually are certain knowledge or skills.

Instruction Teacher-controlled learning Self-directing learning, Collaborative learning, Problem-Based learning

Self-directed learning

Tools Tools used in class-room teaching and learning Concretizing tools Virtual learning material

Table 1. Learning in three categories.

are interested in. In the Kids' Club the attention is in the middle, concretizing learning i.e. learning with help of robotics. Instead of binding children with 2D learning space varying from 15 to 21 inches, namely the monitor - it is possible to offer nearly infinite learning space, the surroundings. 3. Kids' Club in Action

The Kids’ Club realizes the idea of children as designers working in projects without a tight schedule by a target-oriented way and within a certain subject matter [14, 12]. In the Kids’ Club does not have a curriculum or tests. Instead, the general goals and evaluation of children’s learning is done by comparing learning results to children’s individual starting points. The Kids’ Club have also mentors who actually do not teach, but instruct and help in problem situations. The mentors are both under-graduate and graduate students whose backgrounds are from CS and education.

The Kids' Club is held every other week with a total number of 16 children participating in the activities. Five children pioneering the project began in Autumn 2001. Encouraged by the results of the first group, we started the second group in the beginning of February 2002. All the kids were volunteers, who applied to participate on the club. The ages of the children vary between 10 and 13 years. We have also asked a written permission from the

parents of the children to use the material taken from the club meetings in scientific research and publications. It is essential, when working with children, that ethical issues are taken under close consideration. 3.1. Activities: planning, building, and programming

Children work in pairs that they have formed themselves. For each meeting the mentors have set certain targets or tasks that children realize at their own pace, which can mean that when one group is already updating their web pages other group has just dismount their robot for enhancing its properties. Children set the goal for the project in the beginning and approach it by building and testing robot, planning the future of the project and presenting outputs of the project on the group’s web page. In this kind of environment equipment serve as tools for realizing different ideas and presenting done products. Thus, the Kids’ Club appears to children as a fun environment where they can build robots, learn to program them, to do the desired tasks and have the robots play with other groups’ robots. In this kind of environment children are encouraged to design and create things from their own interest and go forward learning in their project at their own speed. Learning occurs in the most effective way according to what is needed in certain situation [11].

2

33

At the moment, our activities consist of building the LEGO robots, programming them with IPPE [4] and making the measurements with the help of Empirica Control [8]. The use of different technological tools, like LEGO Mindstroms [9] and Empirica Control together, gives a possibility for children to learn different things with different tools at the same time. For example children have measured the speed of robots that they have built and programmed with light gates. Skills in programming are needed also in Empirica Control when creating an algorithm for measuring the speed. After orientation period of building LEGO robots and programming, children begin to create their own project web pages where they tell about their achievements. In addition to words, they may use the pictures and video material taken by the mentors or children during children’s activities. Diversity in the use of different tools in different situations makes children self-guided active doers with equipment and software, which are highly needed skills in the information society.

4. Future Considerations

In the future, the scope for the Kids’ Club will be further extended. We will shift the course of the club into more social education, where the kids acquire the useful skills of building and acting in the future society. This is especially the case with the first group. The first group serves the future Kids' Club group by testing out the new ideas that arise among them and the staff. Future plans include testing the department's research project's results, computer gaming, usage of mobile services and entertainment, usage of virtual communities and Internet services in general.

These all serve as finding novel ways of finding out the best and most human ways of realizing our digital tomorrow. Eyes tamed by too much of education are often those, who cannot put themselves into the boots of people with special needs or of those, who haven't generally got all the qualities that the designers do have.

5. References [1] N. Bennet, Teaching Styles and Pupil Progress, Bungay, Sulfolk, 1976.

[2] R. Colwell, “Testimony: Hearing on K-12 Math and Science Education - What is Being Done to Improve It?”, Internet www-site, URL: http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/congress/106/rc90428k_12edu.htm (5.4.2002)

[3] A. Haataja, S. Kontkanen, J. Suhonen and E. Sutinen, “High School Students Learning Computer Science over

the Web”, Interactive Multimedia Electronic Journal of Computer-Enhanced Learning, 2, 2001. Internet site, URL: http://imej.wfu.edu/articles/2001/2/index.asp (20.3.2002).

[4] I. Jormanainen, O. Kannusmäki and E. Sutinen, “IPPE - How To Visualize Programming with robots”, To appear in: Second Program Visualization Workshop, The 7th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, Aarhus, Denmark, June 24-26, 2002.

[5] S. Järvelä, Cognitive Apprenticeship Model in a Complex Technology-based Learning Environment: Socioemotional Processes in Learning Integration, University of Joensuu, Publications in Education, 30, 1996.

[6] E. Kolberg and N. Orlev, “Robotics Learning as a Tool for Integrating Science-Technology curriculum in K-12 Schools”, IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, October 10-13, 2001.

[7] T. D Koschmann, A. C. Myers, P. J. Feltovich and H. S. Barrows, ”Using Technology to Assist realizing effective Learning and Instruction: A Principled Approach to the Use of Computers in Collaborative Learning”, The Journal of Learning Sciences, 3(3), 227-264, 1994.

[8] J. M. Lavonen, V. P. Meisalo and M. Lattu, “Problem Solving with an Icon Oriented Programming Tool: A Case Study in Technology Education”, Journal of Technology Education, 12(2), 21-34, 2001.

[9] LEGO Mindstorms, Internet www-site, URL: http://mindstorms.lego.com/ (27.3.2002).

[10] O. P. Looms (ed.), Technology-supported Learning (Distance learning), Danish Ministry of Education, Report no. 1253. Ringsted, Malchow, 1993.

[11] S. Papert, The Children’s Machine: Rethinking School in the Age of the Computer, Basic Books, NY, 1993.

[12] S. Papert, Mindstorms, Children, Computers and Powerful ideas. All about LOGO – how it was invented and how it works, Basic Books, United States of America, 1980.

[13] M. Resnick, “Closing the Fluency Gap”, Communications of the ACM, 144-145, March 2001.

[14] R. C. Schank, “The Computer isn’t the Medium, It’s the Message”, Communications of ACM, 142-143, March 2001.

3

33