DIGITAL TOOLS USED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTATIONAL THINKING IN PRIMARY EDUCATION: A TEN YEAR SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

This study presents a 10-year (2006-2016) systematic review of the literature related to the digital tools which have been used into K-6 education in order to develop computational thinking skills. Computational Thinking (CT) has received a great interest over the last years as a fundamental set of skills, which promotes new ways of thinking to K-12 students across all scientific fields. Many attempts have been also conducted by various researchers for the development of computational thinking skills in various teaching practices in both; formal educational curriculums and research programs. One of these ways is through the use of various digital tools which have been used in students of all ages and across different subjects such as: computer science, mathematics, physics, engineering, robotics, arts and literacy. It is hoped that, the systematic review that this study presents would help other researchers and primary education level educators to devise new digital tools which could be used to develop students’ computational thinking skills. In fact, the aim of this paper is to review the CT-literature of the last decade related to primary education with the intention to: (a) identify the digital tools which have been used for the development of computational thinking skills by primary school students, (b) describe their characteristics and their potentials as educational tools in terms of CT skills development, (c) demonstrate the ways these tools have been integrated in different educational contexts, such as school classrooms, labs and campuses.