Development of mobile applications with App Inventor among primary school pupils aged between 10 and 11

V magistrskem delu smo predstavili možnosti uporabe orodja App Inventor za učenje programiranja med učenci drugega triletja osnovne šole. Živimo v času, ko so mobilne naprave vseskozi prisotne pri vseh starostnih skupinah. Orodje App Inventor učencem omogoča ustvarjanje realnih aplikacij za mobilne naprave, kar jih motivira za učenje programiranja. V teoretičnem delu magistrskega dela smo razložili, zakaj je treba razvijati računalniško mišljenje pri otrocih ter kako razvoj razmišljanja pri začetnem programiranju opiše neopiagetova teorija kognitivnega razvoja. Osnovnošolski učitelji se učenja osnovnih konceptov programiranja lotevajo na različne načine, eden izmed njih je učenje preko vizualnih programskih jezikov. Teh je na voljo vedno več, zato smo v nadaljevanju izpostavili njihove prednosti in slabosti. Večina učiteljev v Sloveniji učencem predstavi osnovne koncepte programiranja preko vizualnega programskega jezika Scratch. Ko učenci spoznajo programiranje preko Scratcha in usvojijo nekaj konceptov programiranja, jim program Scratch morda ne predstavlja več izziva. Zato morajo učitelji iz množice programov izbrati ustrezno zahtevnega za nadaljnje učenje. Predstavili smo orodje App Inventor in ga na osnovi zadnjih raziskav primerjali z orodjem Scratch. V empiričnem delu sledi raziskava, ali lahko učitelji s programom App Inventor nadaljujejo učenje programiranja ob predpostavki, da so začeli s programiranjem v vizualnih okoljih, podobnih Scratchu. V izbrani osnovni šoli smo izvedli raziskavo med učenci petega in šestega razreda, ki so že vsaj eno leto programirali v programskem jeziku Scratch. Med pettedenskim tečajem so izdelovali mobilne aplikacije v App Inventorju. Rezultati raziskave kažejo na to, da je orodje App Inventor primerno za učence drugega vzgojno-izobraževalnega obdobja. Učenci niso imeli težav zaradi angleškega uporabniškega vmesnika. Večina učencev bi rajši nadaljevala s programiranjem v App Inventorju kot v Scratchu. Vsi so se strinjali, da je ustvarjanje mobilnih aplikacij povečalo njihovo motivacijo za učenje. Prepoznavali so podatkovno strukturo objekt in njegove lastnosti. Večina učencev je prepoznala spremembo lastnosti objekta s pomočjo ukaza. Po uvedbi programiranja s Scratchem učiteljem kot eno izmed možnosti priporočamo nadaljevanje učenja programiranja s pomočjo App Inventorja.In the master\u27s thesis we presented the possibilities of using App Inventor to teach programming among the students of the second cycle of primary school. We live in a time when mobile devices are constantly present in our lives unrelated to age groups. The App Inventor allows learners to create real-world mobile applications, which motivates them to learn programming. In the theoretical part of the master\u27s thesis, we explained why children should be encouraged to develop computational thinking, and how the development of thinking in the initial programming could be described by the neo-Piagetian theory of cognitive development. Primary school teachers teach the basic concepts of programming in different ways, one of which is learning through visual programming languages. More and more of this kind of languages are available that is why their advantages and disadvantages we highlighted below. The majority of teachers in Slovenia present the basic programming concepts to students using the visual programming language Scratch. When students introduce programming through Scratch and adopt some basic programming concepts, the Scratch may not be challenging enough for them anymore. Related to statement above, teachers have to choose the program with an appropriate degree of difficulty for further learning. In the thesis we presented App Inventor and compared to the Scratch. At the selected primary school we conducted a research in order to determine whether teachers can continue to teach programming with App Inventor, on the assumption that they started programming in the visual programming environments, such as Scratch. This we presented in the empirical part of thesis. In the selected primary school, we carried out a research among students of the fifth and sixth grade who have been introduced to programming with Scratch, and who practiced programing for at least a year. During the five-week course, they made mobile applications in the App Inventor. The results of our research indicate that the App Inventor is suitable for teaching programming students of the second primary school cycle. They did not have any problems with the English user interface. Most students would prefer to continue programming in the App Inventor instead of Scratch. Everyone agreed that the creation of mobile applications increased their motivation for learning. They recognized the object data structure and its properties. The majority of students recognized a change in the object properties by using an appropriate command. After the introduction to programing with Scratch, teachers are advised to acknowledge App Inventor as one of the options for more advanced programing