Many countries have started to integrate Computational Thinking (CT) as an essential 21st century skill into different schools’ STEM related subjects. Despite positive developments in terms of CT integration into schools’ curricula, there are still important issues and challenges to address on how to teach and use programming and CT in the classrooms. As part of our ongoing efforts to introduce and to apply different maker technologies to foster CT, this paper describes the results of an exploratory study aiming at designing and implementing learning activities in informal settings using the Engino® Robotics Platform (ERP) and the BBC micro:bit. We conducted a one-week-long workshop with the participation of 22 children aged 10-15 years old. The constructionist theoretical perspective and the Four P’s Creative Learning theory (projects, peers, passion, and play) were applied for conceptualizing and designing our activities. The initial results of our efforts indicate that firstly, learning contexts enriched by the combination of different maker technologies can help students to develop CT skills; Secondly, remixing learning experiences can bring CT into STEM subjects; and lastly, the design of the proposed workshop and the planned activities serve as the basis of a learning environment that can foster problem solving, creativity, and heart-ware skills when the four P's are taken into account. The current study contributes with empirical knowledge that can be used for the advancement of design practices to promote CT development in connection to STEM-related subjects both in informal and formal learning settings.

Digital competence is a skill associated with the 21- century abilities essential to contribute to today’s and tomorrow’s digital and technical environments. Computational Thinking (CT), which is a thought process for problem-solving, is one of the emerging trends that make up digital competence. In our explorative study, we have used educational robotics with four pre-service teachers during their four- week s placement at different preschools. We applied three distinct and complementary approaches to design and conduct this study: Systems Thinking (ST); Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge; and Computing Pedagogy. Our findings are categorized in two main perspectives: pre-service teachers and children. In the pre-service teachers' perspective, the participants indicated that their educational program lacks specific content and activities related to digital competence, CT, and programming. Despite the initial pre-service teachers’ thoughts on improvement of children's CT concepts, the findings show that CT practices such as collaboration and trial and error were developed. From the children’s perspective, the empirical findings illustrate that digital competence and CT development vary depending on the age of the children; whereas logical thinking and pattern recognition are skills that were present along the whole age range of children (ages 2-6), other CT skills like algorithmic thinking were developed among older children only (aged 5-6). We learned that an ST approach can behelpful, as multiple factors are involved in the practice. It reveals the underlying features of the situation that emerge when components of the system interact with each other.

Computational Thinking (CT) pervasively shares its methods, practices, and dispositions across other disciplines as a new way of thinking about problem-solving. Few studies have been carried out studying CT from an Information Systems (IS) perspective. This study elaborates on how systems thinking (ST), an acknowledged theory in the IS field, bonds to CT to address some well-known common issues related to CT such as reductionism and dogmatism and to supplement the computing nature of CT with behavioral and societal facets involved in its implications. We studied how ST is applied to CT research in the literature. To do so, two primary approaches have been identified that link ST and CT. First, ST is embedded in CT practices meaning that ST is considered as a component of CT. Second, ST and CT are parallelly studied, and ST is considered as a supplementary concept to CT. Correspondingly, we propose a complementary approach that looks at CT from the ST lenses to provide a clearer picture of CT in an educational context. Moreover, we expect this new perspective can help to broaden the development of educational CT concepts and scenarios by including new notions such as framework, interpretation, norms, paradigm, and context.