{"id":413,"date":"2022-07-07T20:49:26","date_gmt":"2022-07-07T20:49:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/devtech2\/?page_id=413"},"modified":"2026-04-16T17:17:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T17:17:03","slug":"coding-as-a-playground","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/devtech\/pedagogy\/coding-as-a-playground\/","title":{"rendered":"Coding as a Playground"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">When engaging children in a technology-rich learning experience, we welcome and promote play. Through play we can impact all areas of human development: cognitive, socio-emotional, language, moral, physical and even spiritual. The coding playground, in contrast with the coding playpen, promotes opportunities for open-ended exploration, creation of personally meaningful projects, imagination, problem solving, conflict resolution and collaboration. The coding playground engages children in six behaviors that we can also find in the regular playground: content creation, creativity, choices of conduct, communication, collaboration and community building. These six behaviors are further explored in the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/devtech\/theory\/ptd-framework\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Positive Technological Development (PTD) framework<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:43px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">For more information on Coding as a Playground and DevTech&#8217;s pedagogies, check out the <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/devtech\/papers\/books\/\"><strong>books<\/strong><\/a> written by Prof. Marina Bers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:37px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.routledge.com\/Coding-as-a-Playground-Programming-and-Computational-Thinking-in-the-Early\/Bers\/p\/book\/9780367900502\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/devtech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/181\/2020\/11\/Screen-Shot-2020-10-21-at-1.28.11-PM.png\" alt=\"Cover of the book Coding as a Playground.\" style=\"width:347px;height:524px\" width=\"347\" height=\"524\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mitpress.mit.edu\/books\/beyond-coding\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/devtech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/181\/2021\/11\/Group-61-1.png\" alt=\"Cover of the book Beyond Coding.\" style=\"object-fit:cover;width:354px;height:524px\" width=\"354\" height=\"524\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/global.oup.com\/academic\/product\/designing-digital-experiences-for-positive-youth-development-9780199757022?cc=us&amp;lang=en&amp;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/devtech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/181\/2018\/02\/9780199757022_resized.jpeg\" alt=\"designing digital experience book cover\" style=\"width:353px;height:521px\" width=\"353\" height=\"521\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Coding-Playground-Marina-Umaschi-Bers\/dp\/1138225622#:~:text=In%20Stock.,cognitive%20and%20social%2Demotional%20skills.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/devtech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/181\/2015\/10\/CodingAsPlaygroundCover2017.jpg\" alt=\"Cover of the book Coding as a Playground.\" style=\"object-fit:cover;width:183px;height:275px\" width=\"183\" height=\"275\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.igi-global.com\/book\/teaching-computational-thinking-coding-young\/262496\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/devtech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/181\/2022\/11\/TeachingCT.jpeg\" alt=\"Cover of the book Teaching Computational Thinking and Coding to Young Children.\" class=\"wp-image-6233\" style=\"width:193px;height:277px\" width=\"193\" height=\"277\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/devtech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/181\/2022\/11\/TeachingCT.jpeg 713w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/devtech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/181\/2022\/11\/TeachingCT-209x300.jpeg 209w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 193px) 100vw, 193px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-medium is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcpress.com\/blocks-to-robots-9780807748473\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/devtech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/181\/2015\/10\/BlocksToRobotsCover-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"blocks to robots cover\" class=\"wp-image-854\" style=\"width:189px;height:279px\" width=\"189\" height=\"279\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/devtech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/181\/2015\/10\/BlocksToRobotsCover-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/devtech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/181\/2015\/10\/BlocksToRobotsCover.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 189px) 100vw, 189px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-medium is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Official-ScratchJr-Book-Help-Learn\/dp\/1593276710\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/devtech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/181\/2020\/07\/Screen-Shot-2020-07-16-at-10.12.45-AM-1-e1594909135363-211x300.png\" alt=\"screenshot scratch JR\" class=\"wp-image-2562\" style=\"width:210px;height:277px\" width=\"210\" height=\"277\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinabers.com\/coding-as-a-playground\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/devtech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/181\/2021\/11\/CodingPlayground-1-1.png\" alt=\"Coding Playground\" style=\"width:1011px;height:257px\" width=\"1011\" height=\"257\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When engaging children in a technology-rich learning experience, we welcome and promote play. Through play we can impact all areas of human development: cognitive, socio-emotional, language, moral, physical and even spiritual. The coding playground, in contrast with the coding playpen,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140573,"featured_media":0,"parent":7549,"menu_order":41,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-413","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/devtech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/devtech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/devtech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/devtech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/140573"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/devtech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/devtech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13542,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/devtech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/413\/revisions\/13542"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/devtech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/devtech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}