Planning Grant: openHTML - Scaffolded Web Development Toolkit to Support Elementary Computational Literacy

Drexel大学提议创建一个名为openHTML的脚手架Web开发工具，让学习者接触到HTML和CSS架构和语法的适当初学者模型。在与费城人民急救中心，自由环合作伙伴关系和哈特福德大学合作，项目工作人员将设计学习体验，以满足正式课程中的初级Web开发人员以及社区中心等非正式环境中的自我激励学习者的需求。规划补助金将用于支持beta技术和教材的开发和试点研究。项目工作人员将使用这些活动作为设计为基础的研究的背景下，调查形成的计算经验对学习者的Web技术，基础设施和计算概念的概念模型的影响。计划中的项目建立在PI和Co-PI在计算素养，入门计算经验和编程专业知识发展方面的成功基础上;初始规划阶段为雄心勃勃的长期设计研究议程奠定了基础。广泛的计算能力是竞争力劳动力和充满活力的经济的重要组成部分。通过降低舒适度和计算能力的障碍，该项目旨在1）让那些可能不会出现在计算机科学教育雷达上的个人参与创造性的计算活动，2）改进Web开发教育者和学习者可用的工具，3）扩展有关早期计算思维技能发展的科学知识。

Drexel University proposes the creation of a scaffolded web development tool called openHTML that exposes learners to an appropriate beginner's model of HTML and CSS architecture and syntax. In cooperation with Peoples Emergency Center in Philadelphia, the Freedom Rings Partnership, and Hartford University, the project staff will design learning experiences to address the needs of beginning web developers in formal classes as well as self-motivated learners in informal contexts like community centers. The planning grant will be used to support the development and pilot studies of beta technologies and educational materials. The project staff will use these activities as a context for design-based research to investigate the impact of formative computational experiences on learners' conceptual models of Web technologies, infrastructure, and computational concepts. The planned project builds on the successes of the PI and Co-PI in prior work on computational literacy, introductory computing experiences, and development of programming expertise; the initial planning stage lays the foundation for an ambitious, long-term design-based research agenda.Widespread computational competency is a vital component of a competitive workforce and vibrant economy. By lowering the barriers to comfort and competence with computing, this project aims to 1) engage individuals who may not otherwise appear on the computer science education radar in creative computational activities, 2) improve the tools available to web development educators and learners, and 3) extend scientific knowledge about the development of early computational thinking skills.