A Case Study of Distance Education for Informatics Gifted Students

Abstract

This chapter analyzes cases in which programming was developed via e-learning in informatics gifted classes in Korea. The gifted class, which aimed to improve computational thinking and problem-solving ability, received the algorithm and programming education and experienced the design and implementation process of a programming project entitled “Interactive Movie Production through Scratch Programming” through the creation of a learning group. The learners received gifted education via e-learning systems, such as video lecturing, video conferencing, and smart phones. However, there was much difficulty in providing appropriate feedback and scaffolding to resolve the trial-and-error issues experienced during the programming learning process, which involved learning flow interruptions of the learners, which in some cases caused them to give up on the learning process. To overcome this difficulty, the selection of educational content appropriate for distance learning was regarded as important, and algorithm learning utilizing puzzles was proposed as an alternative. Puzzles can encompass learning content using texts and images while also providing feedback and scaffolding appropriate for learners via suitable learning document compositions and descriptions of the problem solving process while also evaluating the learner's ability in detail.