Computational Play in Early Childhood Education and Care

Advanced and emerging technology such as social and educational robots, programmable electronic platforms (like Littebits), Virtual
Reality and 3D printing are increasingly being introduced into the classroom with the aim of supporting skills of the 21st century, such as
problem-solving skills, mathematics, and in particular, computational thinking (CT) However, few studies address CT in relation to ECEC
activities. This exploratory workshop project has a special focus on how computational play can facilitate
problem-solving, reasoning, and learning by addressing the following research questions:
RQ1: How do children interact and engage when they explore mathematics through computational play in ECEC?
RQ2: What teaching methods develop when teachers explore digital toys within ECEC?
RQ3: How can Virtual Reality be used to support computational play and learning in programming/coding activities?
RQ4: How can a play-responsive approach to computational play promote children’s conceptual understanding?
Against this background, the workshop series include three data-driven workshops, which are carried
out in the Nordic countries of Denmark (Aalborg University), Norway (University of Stavanger), and
Sweden (Halmstad University. The conceptual framework that underpins the research draws on
sociocultural theory informing computational play and a play-responsive approach. These approaches
offer new ways to understand how computational play is dealt with in ECEC. The Nordic collaboration will be
organised within three data-driven workshops and webinars. Following a design-based methodology, the workshop series will follow a
participative co-creation strategy. To generate cross-nordic data during the workshop series, we will use video observation, interviews,
focus group, field notes, casual conversations, documents and artefacts. The three workshops will have different themes: (1)
Computational play and mathematics in ECE; (2) ECEC teachers enriching and supporting children’s play with coding
toys; and (3) Computational play and VR. The particular Nordic aspect in our proposed workshop project, is how we apply a
play-responsive approach to computational play. To develop knowledge on this Nordic grounded combination
motivates that the proposed workshop series should be developed at the Nordic level.