codeSpark

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CertifiedEducation quality
01/2018
codeSpark

codeSpark

codeSpark
Programming
codeSpark is a game and a game creation platform for practicing programming.

codeSpark Academy is a game for learning about the basics of programming and computational thinking. Its word-free interface builds computational thinking skills using interactive puzzles and allows children to design their own games.

The game is for children aged 5 and up. It is suitable both for home and school use. codeSpark offers free teacher’s materials and lesson plans.

Age groups 
Preschool
Elementary
Price 
Subscription
Languages 
Korean
Thai
Vietnamese
Malay
Russian
English
Chinese
Japanese
Finnish
Swedish
Spanish
German
Italian
Portuguese
French
Dutch
Platform 
Mobile Android
Mobile iOS
Registration 
Not required
Offline play 
Playable offline
Pictures
Pedagogy
Educational Quality
Learning Goals

The pedagogical analysis covers how the product supports learning of the identified skills. The student’s role is assessed by four contrary pair parameters, which are selected to cover the most essential aspects on the use of the product.

Passive
Active
codeSpark offers an engaging product for practising coding. The player needs to be active to pass the levels and to proceed within the game.
Rehearse
Construct
The game doesn’t require any previous specific knowledge. It is built so that the players practice with ready-made levels in the beginning. After they've learned the basic concept of programming, they can apply the knowledge gained in the previous levels and build their own.
Linear
Non-linear/Creative
The game play is optimised because the player can’t progress to the more difficult levels before passing the easier ones. The Design and Code section offers players the possibility to develop creativity and create their own levels.
Individual
Collaborative
The users play the game individually but they can create levels for other players.

The following are the high educational quality aspects in this product.

With codeSpark Academy, children can practice the basics of programming in a fun and engaging way. The materials cover all the basic concepts.
The Design and Code feature allows children to create their own levels and it encourages them to be creative, actively using knowledge that they have learned while playing through the existing levels.
For teachers codeSpark provides ready-made lesson plans with high-quality activities. Teachers can also track students’ progress.
The game's tasks are fun and nicely challenging. The characters and the game's world are beautiful, interesting and adorable.

The supported learning goals are identified by matching the product with several relevant curricula descriptions on this subject area. The soft skills are definitions of learning goals most relevant for the 21st century. They are formed by taking a reference from different definitions of 21st century skills and Finnish curriculum.

Subject based learning goals

Connecting programming to mathematics.
Understanding what algorithms are and how they can be used
Understanding the concept of loops
Understanding the meaning of conditionals in programming
Practicing to create sequences
Practicing creative computing
Practicing computational thinking

Soft skills learning goals

Encouraging the growth of positive self-image
Learning to combine information to find new innovations
Learning to build information on top of previously learned
Practicing to notice causal connections
Connecting subjects learned at school to skills needed at worklife
Using technology as a part of explorative and creative process
Practicing logical reasoning, algorithms and programming through making
Understanding technological system operations through making
Using technology resources for problem solving
Learning to find the joy of learning and new challenges
Practicing persistent working
Practicing to use imagination and to be innovative
Creating requirements for creative thinking
Developing problem solving skills
Practicing to look things from different perspectives

The Finnish Educational Quality Certificate

Our Quality Evaluation Method is an academically sound approach to evaluating a product’s pedagogical design from the viewpoint of educational psychology.

The method has been developed with university researchers and all evaluators are carefully selected Finnish teachers with a master's degree in education.

More about the evaluation