![]() ![]() ![]() Led those involved in the teaching of programing to further consider the most effective ways that can facilitate novice programmers in learning the basic programing concepts. Research in teaching and learning programing across different countries and educational contexts reveal that novice programmers face the same challenges in their efficiency of writing, debugging and running programs. Novice programmers suffer from a wide range of difficulties and deficits. However, computer programing is difficult to learn and programing courses often have high drop-out rates. Coding acquisition is necessary as it is used in a wide range of occupations. In this paper, we investigate the use of Alice and App Inventor for Android, with regard to their effectiveness for teaching and learning programming in secondary educationĪre known as ‘21st-century skills’. Visual programming environments which support the construction of programs through a drag-and-drop interface are among the most popular coding tools for teaching novice programmers. These difficulties have led those involved in the teaching of programming to further consider the most effective ways that can facilitate novice programmers in learning the basic programming concepts. Research in teaching and learning programming across different countries and educational contexts reveal that novice programmers face the same challenges in their efficiency of writing, debugging and running programs. ![]() However, computer programming is difficult to learn and programming courses often have high drop-out rates. We believe the effectiveness and success of these mobile NPEs will vary depending on particular situations, and hence our work will aid someone looking for a mobile NPE in making a more judicious choice.Ĭoding is part of logical thinking and is one of the basic skills whichĪre known as ‘21st-century skills’. Our comparison is based on several logistical, instructional, and operational factors and points to the fact that both these mobile NPEs have their strong points as well as weaknesses. In this paper we compare these two environments' suitableness for computing introduction. GameSalad is another free software primarily for Mac platform that can also offers a drag-n-drop rule-based environment for creating apps. Google and MIT's App Inventor for Android is one of the early NPEs that is trying to achieve this by offering a Scratch-like environment for mobile apps development. Hence, if the NPEs want to remain relevant among youth, they need to adapt to and cater to a mobile-device centric audience. ![]() Recent trends in adoption of smartphone and other mobile devices among our youth points to a time in near future when majority of them will be mobile device users. They have also allowed novice computing students to exercise their creative freedom more meaningfully by enabling them to work on projects which have more real life context. These NPEs have successfully lowered the barrier of initial entry to programming. Novice programming environments (NPEs) like Scratch and Alice witnessed tremendous growth in adoption and popularity in recent years. ![]()
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