Study on the implementation of the CAL (Coding as Another Language) curriculum in early childhood education

In recent years, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have been increasingly integrated into preschool education, enriching the learning process with valuable information and motivation while capturing young students' interest. Numerous studies emphasize the importance and impact of utilizing ICT in education, introducing new dynamics to learning experiences, particularly as children grow up surrounded by diverse digital stimuli. From an early age, they interact with applications and digital tools, especially touchscreens, building digital experiences that become essential in educational interventions. Rapid technological advancements have led to the development of a wide range of applications that enhance educational processes, significantly influencing how young children learn and process information. Games, mobile devices, interactive whiteboards, and programming applications aid in the development of critical ICT skills, logical thinking, associative reasoning, computational thinking, and programming abilities. Striking the right balance between play and learning creates a rich, stimulating environment that fosters young learners' growth in skills and abilities. Considering the European Union Council's recommendation of May 22, 2018, digital competence is one of the key skills that must be cultivated both within and beyond school throughout life. As future citizens, today's students need skills that will enable them to solve problems effectively. Our digital society demands individuals capable of responding efficiently to challenges across various social contexts. Consequently, teaching students computational thinking and programming skills has become essential. Research demonstrates that preschool children, when faced with problem-solving tasks requiring the creation of code, can develop basic programming and computational thinking skills, such as debugging and understanding sequences. Moreover, in recent years, digital applications specifically designed to teach young children fundamental programming concepts have emerged. While numerous learning environments focus on coding skills, studies on their effectiveness in fostering coding and computational thinking in preschoolers remain limited. As the number of mobile learning applications grows, it is crucial to identify those with genuine educational value, avoiding those marketed as educational without substantive merit. This study describes an educational intervention based on experiential and collaborative teaching principles. The research aims to demonstrate that through the use of the CAL (Coding as Another Language) approach within the ScratchJr programming environment, significant programming and computational thinking skills can be cultivated in a conventional Greek preschool classroom. The teacher and researcher are the same individual, ensuring direct involvement in the educational process.