Computational Thinking Application Activity

Popplet Link- http://popplet.com/app/#/4557778

Problem Statement: Students in grades kindergarten through fifth grade are required to
conduct research as part of the Texas State Curriculum. Teachers are faced with a problem of
providing safe and effective websites for their students to use in the classroom and at home.
The teachers want to make sure their students can locate the websites on their own and
conduct research independently. Teachers decide to collaborative with their school librarian to
produce a digital content management system that can house and store safe websites to be
used during school research.

Decomposition: First, the teachers need to break down the overall problem into smaller
manageable parts. In this case, the teachers will need to find a digital content management
system for their students to use that will allow website links to be store in one place to allow
independent research. The teachers will first collaborate with their school librarian to discuss
whether the district has purchased a digital content management system to organize websites
to be used during student research.

Rationale: This scenario is an example of decomposition because it is taking the overall

problem of providing safe websites for students and organizing the websites into a digital
content management system. Yadav, Hong, & Stephenson (2016) state that students need to
develop the competencies that move students from being users of technology to then
producing information technology. By having the digital content management system, the
students will learn how to locate safe websites to use during research and be able to
summarize factual information from their research.

Pattern Recognition: The teacher has noticed that different digital content management
systems allow the teacher to provide hyperlinks to the websites that are safe for the students
to use. A digital content management system called ClassLink displays the websites in an
application format. Other digital management systems, like MackinVia, provide the teacher
with the option of grouping website links together which will help the students choose websites
that have factual information. This feature would be beneficial for students in kindergarten
through fifth grade to reduce the amount of time searching for useful websites.

Rationale: This scenario is an example of pattern recognition because it illustrates the teacher
finding patterns in a variety of digital content management systems and finding a solution by
analyzing the data. As Sheldon (2017) stated, pattern recognition is having the ability to
observe trends in data and applying the information to find solutions. The teacher took the
data learned, like how the information is stored in the management system and how easily
accessible it was to their students, and decided on the most beneficial system for their
students.
Algorithm Design: The teacher begins by emailing the school librarian to determine which
license the district has purchased in regards to the digital content management system. There
are two options for the teacher to pick from, ClassLink and MackinVia. The teacher collaborates
with the librarian about which digital content management system to use. The librarian
recommends MackinVia, which allows the teacher to organize the websites for each research
project into different group tabs. The librarian gives the teacher safe and useful websites to
insert into MackinVia. The teacher organizes different websites like PebbleGo and Britannica for
Kids into the digital content management system. The teacher will provide an overview of
MackinVia and to navigate independently during research time.

Rationale: Rationale: This scenario is an example of algorithm design because it is taking a

series of steps to find a desired outcome. Sheldon (2017) states that students need to know
how to communicate the steps with clear instruction and be able to interpret the outcome of
the steps. The teacher is able to take multiple steps by beginning with the digital content
management system options, collaborating with the librarian to aid in the decision-making
process, and organizing the research websites and databases on to the digital content
management system.

Abstraction: Abstraction: The teacher realized that it is possible to use multiple digital content
management systems when conducting research. When collaborating with the librarian, they
discussed each management system and how to link safe websites for students to use. By using
ClassLink, the teacher would be able to store all the databases that the district has purchased
for research and for other independent projects. ClassLink also allows the students to login in
one time with their school login credentials. This feature helps with reducing the number of
passwords to remember for the students. MackinVia can also allow the teacher to personalize
the logins for each student. The teacher can assign eBooks to students for guided reading or
have eBooks on topics being covered in class. Both digital content management system will
support the students when using technology in the classroom.

Rationale: This scenario is an example of abstraction because it displays how the teacher went
through the different parts of each digital content management systems and found useful
pieces in each system. Phillips (2005) states that abstraction is generalizing the important
details from different data sources and finding the relationship amongst the two. The teacher
shows abstraction by looking at the details of ClassLink and MackinVia. Each management
system can be used in research, but deciding on which one to use will depend on how you want
your students to conduct their research. A detail from MackinVia is it allows for a more specific
search for information and ClassLink only allows database main webpages to be stored.

References:
Phillips, P. (2005). Computational Thinking: A Problem-Solving Tool for Every Classroom [PPT].
Microsoft Corporation.
Sheldon, E. (2017, March 30). Computational Thinking Across the Curriculum. Retrieved from
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/computational-thinking-across-the-curriculum-eli-
sheldon

Yadav, A., Hong, H., & Stephenson, C. (2016). Computational Thinking for All: Pedagogical
Approaches to Embedding 21st Century Problem Solving in K-12 Classrooms.
TechTrends, 60(6), 565–568. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-016-0087-7