K-12 Interest Grows in 'Physical Computing' as Hands-On Approach to Computer Science and STEM
By Guest Blogger Lauraine Genota
A teacher in Virginia uses a micro-controller to connect a computer to a keyboard, allowing kindergarten students to play notes—and close a circuit—when they high-five their classmates.
In Colorado, a teacher asks 7th graders to code a random number generator that teaches them programming skills by playing rock, paper, scissors.
These are just two examples of teachers using physical computing, an instructional strategy that tries to teach students about computer science and computational thinking through physical tools and hands-on activity.
Physical computing has established a presence in a small number of schools around the country. In many cases, there's just one teacher or administrator who's trying it, but supporters of the concept believe its role will grow. At the same time, they acknowledge that there are obstacles to implementing these types of programs, including concerns about the cost of applying it in classrooms, and the training educators need to make it happen.
Other types of hands-on, STEM-focused activities, like maker spaces, have grown more popular in K-12 districts, libraries, and other settings over the past few years, and some educators say they share many of the same goals as physical computing.
Similar to other hands-on or project-based learning programs, physical computing is meant to encourage interdisciplinary and entrepreneurial thinking and foster student creativity.
The goal is to allow students "to experience how interactivity happens," said Rashmi Pimprikar, program director of STEAM and computer science initiatives for the Boston public schools. Students using the strategy "can solve problems, express themselves and create using technology."
In September, the International Society for Technology in Education, one of the biggest ed-tech associations in the country, held a webinar that called for schools to use physical computing as a strategy for making computer science more accessible to students.
Many toys and products have come onto the market to address physical computing needs, through some combination of computer science and hands-on instruction. Those tools include programmable robots and coding and circuit tools.
The hands-on approach to teaching computational thinking is a good way to "check off" the competencies that students should learn as part of the Computer Science Teachers Association K-12 Computer Science Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards, said Pimprikar, who led the ISTE webinar on physical computing.
Some of the expectations laid out in the CSTA and NGSS standards that connect to physical computing, she said, include problem decomposition, developing models, creating and testing computational products, solving computational problems, collaboration and communication.
'More Than Just a Computer'
To meet those standards, students "need more than just a computer," said Anna Otto, computer science and online learning coordinator for Adams 12 Five Star Schools in Colorado, which is incorporating physical computing into its 7th grade computer science curriculum. Otto said the district knew they needed to use the concept to meet the standards outlined in their curriculum.
One educator who has turned to physical computing to introduce her students to computer science is Meredith Cosier, a visual arts and STEAM teacher in Fairfax County, Va.
Cosier teaches her Bucknell Elementary kindergarten students about circuits by making music with their hands and a Makey Makey board. The Makey Makey board is a micro-controller that can be connected to a computer and interact with Makey Makey apps available online.
In Cosier's lesson, the Makey Makey micro-controller is connected to a computer, which is then connected to Makey Makey's piano app. A metallic set of clips, which creates electrical connections, is attached to the micro-controller, and students hold onto the other end. When students high-five, they close the circuit between the board and 