Talkoo: A new paradigm for physical computing at school

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingArticle in proceedingsResearchpeer-review

Introducing physical computing into regular school classes is challenged by constraints of schedules and curricula structures, which do not allow for timeconsuming electronics prototyping. We present a novel approach to prototyping with physical computing components with the Arduino-based TALKOO kit: It comprises hardware modules, a visual IDE and prototyping material. Sensor and actuator modules are pluggable and do not require soldering and prior knowledge in electronics. The components have the ability to "talk" back to the visual IDE and to a learning analytics system. A new paradigm for visual programming maps physical modules onto virtual representations on screen making programming more intuitive. The TALKOO kit expands the field of application of physical computing for children in regular school contexts. Preliminary evaluation results show that children were able to build elaborative prototypes within an hour.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of IDC 2016 - The 15th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children
Number of pages6
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery, Inc.
Publication date21 Jun 2016
Pages512-517
ISBN (Electronic)9781450343138
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 21 Jun 2016
Externally publishedYes
Event15th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children, IDC 2016 - Manchester, United Kingdom
Duration: 21 Jun 201624 Jun 2016

Conference

Conference15th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children, IDC 2016
LandUnited Kingdom
ByManchester
Periode21/06/201624/06/2016
SponsorACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (SIGCHI)
SeriesProceedings of IDC 2016 - The 15th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children

    Research areas

  • Children, Education, Physical computing, Visual programming

ID: 256266459