Coding and childhood between play and learning: Research on the impact of coding in the learning of 4-year-olds

We propose the results of a research that combines the educational and psychological media approach, to verify\r\nthe pedagogical potential of coding and robotics in the learning processes of 4-year-old children at the cognitive and\r\nsocio-relational level.\r\n\r\nThe study investigated the impact of unplugged and plugged coding on the skills of spatiality, movement and prob-\r\nlem-solving skills, storage and decoding of progressively more complex indications, and single-group interaction of 51\r\n\r\nchildren and three kindergartens using storytelling and the educational robot Cubetto.\r\n\r\nThe work is based on the research carried out by Lee (2020) on the inclusion of coding in early childhood, the the-\r\noretical references of Wing (2010) about computational thinking and the theoretical frameworks proposed by Bers\r\n\r\n(2020) regarding coding as a playful dimension.\r\nThe data collected through the quantitative and qualitative tools of a pre- and post-intervention questionnaire to\r\neducators and a checklist of observations on children recorded the following:\r\n• an increase in children’s space, motor and information-storage/decoding skills;\r\n• a change in children’s collaborative skills when comparing the results of the plugged and unplugged coding workshops\r\nand\r\n• the impact of coding to increase children’s performance skills through narrative dimension and play.