The CoTinker project addresses the development and design of an open source infrastructure that enables the development of new learning tools within computational thinking (CT) to support collaboration and flexibility in learning environments. The purpose of the CoTinker project is to establish an infrastructure that supports collaboration between researchers and teachers. A collaboration that enables a quick and efficient way to design innovative components for digital learning environments that are adapted to the needs of a Scandinavian learning context in upper secondary school. CoTinker is built on Webstrates and Codestrates. Webstrates is a web-based platform for building real-time collaborative software. Codestrates is a frame- work for building computational media on top of Webstrates
What is CoTinker?
CoTinker is a web-based tool designed to support the facilitation of computational thinking learning activities. The design of CoTinker addresses challenges that arise in scaffolding computational thinking activities, collaboration between students, and technical integration between the different subactivities (coding, running a simulation, documenting work) of learning activities.
CoTinker’s central concept is the learning activity: An interactive digital document or a piece of computational media describing and containing the steps and materials involved in the activity. A master learning activity is created by an instructor and students copy one per group with its own unique URL and share it between them. Each student in a group opens this URL on their respective computers to participate. CoTinker requires the user to use both a phone and a PC simultaneously. When opening the URL for a learning activity on a PC, a QR-code is shown. Scanning this code on a mobile will navigate the browser to the same URL and establish a connection between the mobile and the PC and the student will hereby join the learning activity. If the browser tab is closed on the mobile phone the connection is closed and the PC will return to the screen showing the QR code.
Novo Nordisk Foundation & It-vest – networking universities
