Devoloping affordable tangible programming education applications using mobile vision

Abstract

Programming education has become an essential part of the primary and secondary school curriculum. Two main programming environment modalities, web-based visual programming applications and electronic cards, have become popular in curricular activities. Limiting the programming activities around these programming environments restricts education accessibility in socio-economically disadvantaged regions due to the need for an individual computer per student, lack of decent infrastructure, and high electronics prices. Effective, shared use of smartphones and tablets in programming education can provide equal opportunities. in this scenario, students can code simple drawings and animations using their own materials as tangible programming blocks by employing a single shared phone in the classroom as an interpreter. This article explains our development process of a new tangible programming environment which increases the accessibility of education. We discuss effective inclassroom use of image/text processing practices and transfer learning methods on smartphones.