Chapter 8: Exploring ISTE Standards for Students “Computational Thinker” - Part 7

 Chapter 8: Exploring ISTE Standards for Students “Computational Thinker” - Part 7

Date/Time:25th April 2024 Thursday 3:23 am - 26th April 8:34 pm

This is my 7th post on the ISTE Standards for Students, this time exploring a new standard “Computational Thinker”. This is also based on my key learning from the online course on ISTE about exploring ISTE student standards. This module focused on computational thinking and how to incorporate it into teaching and learning in our schools. There were in context and relevant examples shared in the course, that I will be sharing here in this post. There are some great resources that can be used to teach computational thinking in schools stated in the course and I will refer to those in the post too. This standard too has four indicators and I will try to explain each with examples. Let’s start exploring.

ISTE Standard Computational Thinker 1.5 says students learn different strategies to solve difficult problems , and then they use technology resources to find solutions to these problems. They employ computational thinking to break a bigger problem into smaller chunks, find patterns, remove unnecessary details, and write steps to create a solution. Computational thinking comprises four parts namely decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction and algorithmic thinking. Also this strategy could be applied to almost all fields in our life, not just only computer science. Let’s start with a very simple example of cooking chicken vegetable noodles, my favorite. The first step is to break the problem into smaller chunks, we need resources and the recipe. The next step is pattern recognition - select and chop the vegetables/chicken in a similar format (based on your prior experience with a recipe of making spaghetti ) and fry chicken separately. Third, abstraction - remove the unnecessary vegetables/chicken. Fourth algorithmic thinking - follow the stepwise recipe - boil the noodles, fry the chicken and vegetables separately, add sauces, once done you add some oil in the pan, stir fry the noodles and add the cooked vegetables , chicken, some sauces and salt/pepper to taste. Cook on low flame and your chicken vegetable noodles are ready to eat. That's simple!

Let’s consider another example from daily life, this I watched on the Youtube link about a car with a punctured tyre and low fuel, given in the course and it was meaningful. Imagine your driving to work and the tyre got punctured, and the fuel pump showed less fuel. What would you do? The first step is decomposition - break the problem into smaller chunks to better understand 1. Punctured tyre 2. Low fuel. Next step is pattern recognition - you could change the tyre since you have resources and have done this before in a past experience, whereas since you have enough fuel it could take you to the nearby petrol pump. Step 3, abstraction - remove unnecessary details like how to get the fuel etc and fourth algorithmic thinking - steps of changing a tyre follow them. It is actually that simple and we could apply the same to many other problems in daily life related to any field. Now I think this helps build a lot of clarity about computational thinking. 

Let’s start exploring the indicators one by one.

ISTE Standard Computational Thinker 1.5a says that students can clearly describe problems in detail , they can think of constraints and challenges, they can use technology methods that make work easier, quick and efficient and come up with step wise solutions. They can use technology for tasks such as data analysis, algorithmic thinking and creating abstract models (representation of a concept or structure or relationship).

I really liked the example shared in this module about an elementary teacher teaching her students about algorithms, which for them is an abstract concept. The students are supposed to teach a robot to dance using computer programming. The students start with a dance routine, then they write the steps (left, right, forward, back, turn) and feed them into a computer program. The robot then follows the steps entered in the computer. They understand that the computer program makes the robot dance and move. That is how they build their understanding of algorithms. This seems a little technical to explain algorithms to young students. I would surely think of something simple like steps to boil an egg, fry an egg or make an omelet. 

Let's write our algorithm for boiling eggs:

Step 1: take out two eggs from the fridge

Step 2: take a saucepan

Step 3: pour some water in the pan

Step 4: place the pan on the stove

Step 5: turn on the heat

Step 6: add the eggs in pan

Step 7: boil for 5 to 6 mins

Step 8: turn off heat, remove the hot water.

Step 9: peel off the eggs when a little cold. 

Step 10: add salt and pepper to taste and eat with a fork or spoon. 

Let’s think of another example, for primary students, they have to identify healthy and unhealthy food in their diet , and come up with a healthy diet plan. The students do a survey of the students in primary grades and enter data in google sheets or spreadsheets. They filter data to find similarities and differences in diet. They create graphs to represent findings. Students then create a healthy diet plan for themselves. 

ISTE Standard Computational Thinker 1.5b says that students need to understand the importance of data and how date helps reshape the decisions and solutions to large and complex problems. They understand the important role of data in solving large and complex problems. They can identify relevant and meaningful data sets, they can use technology to find similarities and differences in data sets, and represent data in different forms, these include graphs, charts etc. The important question here is how to identify relevant data? Where to find relevant data? How do they know which tools to use to analyze data? How do they use the tools to analyze data? And most importantly does the curriculum provide them the opportunity to analyze data and present fidnings?

Students can collect data through surveys, questionnaires, through discussions in focus groups, online polls, observations, science experiments and online available public data sets. There are public data sets online verified that can be used to get authentic and relevant data, this data could be related to population, natural disasters, pollution, global food sources etc. This data could be analyzed using different technology tools, these include text analysis software, graphics software, databases, visualization tools, mapping software , google analytics etc. For example, once data is entered into a database, different reports could be generated based on filtered data. The database could be created in Microsoft database. Similarly data could be entered in a Google Sheets/spreadsheet, it could be filtered using filter tools and data  could be presented in the form of graphs and charts. Spell check and grammar can be used in google docs or words to identify spelling and grammar errors in your document. Google analytics can show you how many times your blog has been viewed online, when and where, it provides whole stats day wise. While searching online I came across a post which had information about several data analysis software, details in link below.

For example a practical example could be to provide access to students about Covid and find out how it has spread and which countries were affected the most. They could be asked to streamline factors behind the rapid increase of COVID. They would need access to actual data about patients who suffered due to COVID in different countries. 

While exploring actual data sets online I came across some very interesting data sets, visualizations and findings from the data sets. These include data about living longer with fewer children.  Over time the numbers shift to low fertility with longer lives. China shows long living with a single child, whereas India shows a long living with two children per family. Whereas Pakistan shows a low life expectancy with 3 children per family. Strangely Israel shows the high life expectancy with 3 children per family. Whereas Nigeria shows a low life expectancy with 5 children. But very interesting data findings.

Another very interesting data was about China, US and India surpassing the European economy in 2060. This forecast was shared by Frederick S.Pardee Center for International Futures , based on the GDP (the value of all goods and services produced in an economy at purchasing power parity). The findings can be viewed in different formats, these include bar charts, line charts, map charts.

Another interesting data was European countries having access to broadband connection. An indicator of  development in European countries is the large number of households having access to a fast speed internet connection. The data shows interesting findings, countries like Netherlands and Denmark are smaller countries and showed the highest broadband penetration rate. But with time they have also started showing signs of flattening out. Another interesting data was about the “FLU” waves and how it travels from country to country. Students can observe the flu trends in different countries and how they vary season wise. This data is based on flu searches in a country. 

ISTE Standard Computational Thinker 1.5c says that students can break bigger problems into smaller chunks to better understand , find patterns, abstract irrelevant data and find solutions. The focus is on decomposition and abstraction. Important questions to consider are students given an opportunity to break a bigger problem into smaller chunks? How can students demonstrate they can identify relevant points? Can they create descriptive models to explain the complexity in a system? While skimming online I came across an example that could better help understand this standard. Students could be divided into groups and each group could be given a jar with colored marbles or balls. Each jar has a different number of marbles of each color, but each jar has 5 different colored marbles (red, blue, green, orange, yellow). Ask the students to organize the marbles according to colors and then note down this information in a sheet or online tool or a paper worksheet. Once done, ask them to plot data and compare the number of colored marbles. They could further compare their data with the other group. And then you could explain to them, this is how a computer works. 

Another interesting example I came across while skimming wan about breaking down a narrative into smaller parts, students answer a few questions that lead to the change in the narrative and students come up with a new and different narrative as compared to the original plot. That is actually very interesting. And the example uses Sutori and online tools for creating timelines and it seems easy to use and no hardware requirements as such. I can think of something interesting if students were asked to create a different narrative for the original Cinderella story - my ever favorite. Here is an idea how to come with an alternate narrative for a original Cinderella story - 

Step 1: ask students about their favorite character in the story? What if the character was changed? Who would replace the character? What if Cinderella had a step brother who was evil? What if there was a fairy godfather instead of a fairy godmother, I like the fairy godmother part though. What if there was a boy named Richard and he had step brothers or sisters? Could think of a dozen ideas. 

Step 2: ask students about their favorite scene in the story? How would they change the scene? You can ask them about the beginning or ending too and how they would want to change it?

Step 3: Explain the break up of the plot as follows: beginning, middle and the end, each part should have an image, a quote that summarizes it, 2 or 3 scenes and a line description each.

Step 4: Students brainstorm ideas using any mind mapping software online bubbl.us, mindmeister, popplet etc

Step 5: They create a plot timeline in Sutori.

Step 6: Ask the students to remove a character they don't like, or remove a scene they dont like and see how it affects the whole story. They rewrite the plot with the changed character or removed scene. 

This is how they learn how to create descriptive models by making smaller chunks of a narrative, and creating an alternative narrative based on their questions and responses. 

ISTE Standard Computational Thinker 1.5d says students understand what automation means and how they can use algorithmic thinking to create and test innovative solutions to solve real life problems. Automation is basically when a machine is used to do repetitive tasks instead of humans. Algorithmic thinking involves a series of ordered steps to solve a problem. For example coding in Scratch to create a shape, create a game or create a story. The steps have to be followed in a sequence. This is a code for a clicker game in Scratch. When you click on the green flag the ball starts moving and a mouse is used to click on the randomly moving ball to get a score.

When this sprite clicked                      (this is an event)

Change score by 1                               (score is a variable here)

Forever                                                  (forever is a loop)

Glide 1 sec to random position           (this is the move option)

Start sound pop                                    (this is the sound option) 

Change color effect by 25                    (this is the looks option)

Another easy way to explain automation would be through a treasure hunting game, and a classroom floor could be used for this game. The classroom floor has blocks, the students have to move forward, back, right, left to reach the treasure. They move in steps to reach their destination. Also schools have programmable toys like robots or bee bots that can be used to teach about automation. A beebot is a programmable robot that some schools in Pakistan already have and it can be used to teach a number of concepts. The bee bot moves in steps and the user has to program it to move in different directions. There are arrow keys that are used to program the bee bot. This can be used to teach alphabets to students, number concepts to students etc. 

Another way to explain automation would be in Google sheets or spreadsheets. Students can create a project budget plan and do the calculations using the built in functions in Google sheets or spreadsheets. They can compare it to physically calculating large numbers as compared to doing it using functions, and see which is a more efficient way of doing calculations and why?

Another daily life example of automation would be how machines do repetitive tasks and tedious tasks like a photocopier or a printer. Ask students to think of machines they see around themselves that do tedious and repetitive tasks. And ask them how this links to algorithmic thinking. Ask them what steps do they follow to heat food in the oven or how or how do they use a vacuum cleaner, what steps do they follow etc I am sure students will come up with lots of examples. It is good to start with simple concepts. Followed by explaining automation and algorithmic thinking by coding online.

This was a really interesting module and honestly I got to think of a lot of examples from my own experience, teaching and learning practices.  I would recommend this ISTE course to all teachers working in schools in Pakistan. If you really want to understand how education technology can be used to transform teaching and learning in schools, you can learn a lot from the ISTE Course about the students' standards. 

As previous modules this module too helped build a lot of clarity about the Computational Thinker standard. And I am sure people who get to read this post will get a lot of valuable ideas from reading the post.

Happy reading till my next post soon InnshaaAllah.

Regards and prayers

Sheeba Ajmal