Our children are learning how to use computers in their ICT lessons at school. Suites of computers are available with copies of the latest office programs and thousands of ten year olds are learning the basic computer skills required of an office worker. Boys are playing games at home on their computers and teenagers are creating content on social networking sites. Our children are using computer programs every day but few are learning how to create their own programs.
Creating your own programs provides a much deeper understanding of what a computer can do than running any educational software program. Engineering computer programs to solve problems or play games or animate stories for your peers can be cool for both boys and girls. By the age of ten, children should be able to create software for the younger children to use and be ready to apply their computing knowledge creatively as their teenage interests develop. Some may become the technology shapers and entrepreneurs of the future.
Logo is a programming language designed specifically for children forty years ago. It developed directly out of the programming languages used then in an attempt to create programs capable of artificial intelligence. It has some special properties as a programming language and is most famous for a set of commands that drive turtle graphics to move a turtle around the screen to draw lines and shapes. Logo was popular in the UK and USA in the 1980s but seems to have faded in popularity as the educational software market has grown although it is still used in primary and secondary schools around the country and in the Netherlands and Eastern European countries such as Poland and Hungary.
The inventor of Logo was a mathematician as well as an expert in how children build up their understanding of complex topics as they develop and there are claims that learning to program with Logo helps build an understanding of mathematics. Certainly small children gain a natural understanding of geometry and angles through programming turtles to draw shapes on the screen. The use of floor turtles is common in our primary schools and is often used in the education of special children. Unfortunately, whilst the benefits of turtle graphics have been incorporated into the school curriculum, the wider benefits of creating computer programs has been lost and many schools do not expose children to programming at all throughout their whole school career.
The art of building useful and entertaining computer programs must be considered the primary benefit of learning Logo. Engineering software programs is a creative process involving planning and execution as well as troubleshooting. Programmers employ top-down and bottom-up design when building programs and breaking complex tasks into components is part of general problem solving skills. Turtle graphics complement the child's understanding of geometry and the use of variables in programming procedures might help understanding of symbols in algebra. Building programs for the use of other children employs the communication skills of the older children who can also help to teach and educate younger children in programming techniques. Logo can also be used to build all manner of programs to illustrate concepts of grammar and robotics and many other areas.
Children can begin to learn Logo programming at any age and our courseware starts from the beginning of primary school at the age of five. An introduction can be made running Logo programs on an interactive whiteboard or using physical floor turtles before introducing children to the basic Logo commends with One Key Logo. Children often work in pairs at a computer and should be given a Logo notebook for planning and recording their activities. Some exercises are relevant to the curriculum and are taught as part of the school syllabus but general programming is often taught as a separate activity perhaps for an after hours computer club.
Our courseware is designed for both parents and teachers to teach children to program and the projects often involve general computer skills in addition to programming concepts. All the software used in all projects is free for educational use and notes and resources are provided to help facilitators plan topics ahead. Children of any age can begin the course and work rapidly through to the stage where the projects are relevant to their skills and interests.
Our curriculum aims to achieve the following objectives in 5-7 years olds:
We are currently testing our courseware with parents and teachers and incorporating their feedback as well as assessing a structure for course materials for the 8-11 year age group. Please download the courseware and contribute to the development of our courseware by emailing us. We will also let you know as soon as we develop the rest of the course.