Iberoamerican educational strategies and experiences based on Ict, in order to develope computational thinking

Abstract

This article contains the results of an analysis based on experiences and educational strategies. The aim of this research is focused on the search for initiatives that involved Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the development of “computational thinking” in Iberoamerica. First, the definitions given by experts are reviewed, conceptualizing the term “computational thinking”. Then, they are contrasted to identify common and particular aspects in order to choose a concept as the basis for this research. Second, the competences related to computational thinking are examined, which are discussed in the analysis of the proposals. Subsequently, the experiences found, regarding the teaching of programming or related topics, are analyzed according to predefined parameters that allowed describing them uniformly.

The analysis showed that most of the experiences found took place in Argentina, Chile and Spain. It was also found that the area of application is institutional, both at university and secondary level, through educational proposals of outreach and articulation between the institutions. Also, it is known that the tools and materials used are mostly self-developed and the use of non-paid and free material is promoted. The approach of the experiences seeks to solve problems from diverse areas. This analysis revealed that most of the proposals manage to develop all the knowledge, skills and attitudes taken as a basis, including: problem solving, information abstraction, algorithm design, modularization, simulation, implementation, generalization and transfer, persistence and teamwork.