Abstract:

Since we live in a digital age, many (not only educational) institutions, from kindergartens to universities, use digital technology (touch screen devices, interactive whiteboards, robotic technology), creating an opportunity to incorporate this technology into elementary and pre-school education and use it to help children develop basic digital competencies such as information and data literacy, communication and cooperation, problem-solving skills and computational and algorithmic thinking. The main curriculum documents for all educational levels (i.e. for pre-school, primary and secondary education) are constantly being updated, with the topics of digital literacy and digital competencies becoming more and more relevant. Technology makes it easier to develop these competencies through the use of didactic games and involuntary learning. Developing computational and algorithmic thinking from an early age (starting in kindergarten and continuing in elementary school) is key to being successful in the next stages of life – from further education to personal life. Problem-solving skills, logical and abstract thinking, creativity and originality are the most appreciated skills today. The paper introduces activities for various primary school subjects, which use the ever more popular robotic toy Bee-Bot to help children develop the aforementioned competencies.

Keywords:

Computational thinking, digital literacy, digital competencies, Bee-Bot.