In the last years, there has been a worldwide interest in working on computational thinking skills in primary and secondary school students. Initiatives such as HourOfCode or CodeWeek. EU have encouraged companies and organizations to create online platforms and mobile apps to develop these competencies. However, these solutions are not useful in situations where there is no possibility of using the Internet or mobile phones. Unplugged Computer Science is a valid alternative in these cases. Among the activities of unplugged CS activities, board games designed to develop computational thinking skills offer an option that combines the educational component with playfulness. Currently, there is a small set of board games that develop computational thinking skills. Most of these games pose a set of challenges that need to be solved individually. They also put a lot of emphasis on algorithmic thinking and forget other aspects of computational thinking. In addition, these games are licensed under copyright and cannot be printed and played freely so many schools do not use them for budget reasons. The aim of the “COMPUS: The computer is us” project is to design, produce and distribute copyleft computational-thinking-related board games in schools. Several board games will be developed during the project. In some of them, players take on the role of a program using processor resources in a multitasking environment, or have to define strategies to compress large amounts of information and save storage space, etc. Each board game will include a learning guide, a video-tutorial to learn how to play and what computational thinking aspects are covered in the game and a website with more information about it. In addition to these board games, an unplugged computer science activity book will be developed taking advantage from the components used in these board games and expand their impact and use conducting individual or collective activities on the computational thinking related concepts. The design and piloting of the prototypes of board games in this project will involve several European schools (FATIMA, FERDINAND I) of different learning levels. Similarly, OEIiZK will organize workshops for teachers in Poland and open lessons for students of primary and secondary schools. Their feedback will help to improve game design and prepare age-appropriate activities for the learning guides. All educational materials created within the framework of the project (board games and learning guides) will be published under a Creative Commons BY-CC license and may be freely printed by anyone interested on them. The project also aims to produce the board games professionally (with the help of the partner AGRPRIORITY, a company specialised in the production of board games) and sell them through a crowdfunding platform with the aim to cover the cost of manufacturing and shipping (the remaining costs are included in the project), so that those schools or individuals can obtain the professional version of the games at cost price.
In recent years there has been a growing interest in the development of computational thinking in schools. Initiatives such as HourOfCode or CodeWeek have encouraged organizations to develop online learning platforms with the support of the European Union. However, these solutions are not useful in situations where there is no possibility of using the Internet or mobile phones. Unplugged Computer Science is a valid alternative in these cases. Among the unplugged CS activities, computational thinking themed board games enable playful learning with almost no effort from students and teachers. Currently, there is a small set of board games that develop computational thinking skills. Most of these games pose a set of challenges that need to be solved individually. They also put a lot of emphasis on algorithmic thinking and forget other aspects of computational thinking. In addition, these games are licensed under copyright and cannot be printed and played freely so many schools do not use them for budget reasons. Using low-tech solutions such as board games to develop digital competencies allows different regions with very different realities to take advantage of these learning materials in the same way (a little bit similar to what happens with other games that develop competencies related to abstract thinking or solving problems such as chess or go, which are somehow independent of the socio-economic conditions to be practiced). Instead of promoting a technology-centered approach to develop computational thinking-related skills, this project advocates for a unplugged computer science approach where abstract concepts are easily learned through physical materials that enable interactions between learners in a fun way. The aim of the “COMPUS: The computer is us” project was to design, produce and distribute copyleft computational-thinking-related board games in schools. The first board game is called MOON and covers basic computer architecture concepts (binary, registers, CPU, multitasking, etc.). MOON is an educational game where players will simulate a simple computer. Players have to help the astronauts of the Eagle lunar module to fulfill their mission while they learn how to count in binary, perform logical operations, and find out how a computer works... while also having fun! MOON is recommended for 10-year-olds and older, for 1 to 4 players and an estimated duration of 15-45 minutes (depending on the selected difficulty). During this project, we printed and releashed 3500 copies of this game around the world. The second game is called Archers of Nand and covers basic data base related concepts (selections of data using logical operations and other functions). In this game, players will fight hordes of orcs using their knowledge of computer databases (the Nand Valley represents a small data TABLE where you will SELECT its territories to attack the orcs). Archers of Nand is recommended for 10-year-olds and older, for 1 to 2 players and an estimated duration of 15-30 minutes (depending on the selected difficulty). During this project, we printed and releashed 1500 copies of this game around the world. For each board game, we developed serveral video-tutorials to learn how to play and what key aspects are covered. In addition to these board games, we published a +300 page activity book where the topics and the components of both board games are expanded to introduce more computational thinking related concepts. All educational materials created within the framework of the project (board games and activity book) was published under a Creative Commons BY-CC license and may be freely printed by anyone interested on them. The design and piloting of the board games of this project involved several European schools (FATIMA, FERDINAND I) of different learning levels as well as OEIiZK and AGR Priority. During the project life different workshops for teachers and open lessons for students of primary and secondary schools were also organized. Their feedback helped to improve the design and educational value of the games. Similarly, all partners of the project contributed to the development of the activity book. During the last 2 years, we have received constant expressions of appreciation from all over the world, as well as videos, reviews or complementary activities using the COMPUS board games for the development of computational thinking.