Preschool children can benefit by working with microcomputers. Thinking skills are enhanced by software games that focus on logic, memory, problem solving, and pattern recognition. Counting, sequencing, and matching games develop mathematics skills, and word games focusing on basic letter symbol and word recognition develop language skills.…

This study focused on the cognitive conflicts experienced by young children in using software programs that provided them with tools to create and/or combine individual graphic elements into larger structures. Six 5-year-old children, none with prior computer experience, were observed using three programs--Kids at Work, Picture Perfect, and…

This paper describes the origins of a corporation producing computer software for children, lists criteria for software design, and describes work done with computer graphics for children. The corporation, called The Learning Company, had its origins in a project set up to create playful learning programs for children ages 3 to 13. The project was…

Describes LOGO, an educational computing language designed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for use by young children in developing problem-solving skills. The structure of LOGO, the drawing operations possible using the LOGO "Turtle," LOGO as a learning environment, and the educational philosophy underlying LOGO are…

Describes a series of programs written in Logo that have been used successfully to support young children's programing efforts. These programs remove the mechanical obstacles of typing, spelling, and estimating distances; remove the demands of abstract planning and ordering instruction; and provide a set of programing procedures. (MBR)

Children, aged three to seven years, were observed in spontaneous and structured situations using computer graphics and robots. It was found that computer graphics can enhance reflectivity and that robots present a rich problem-solving environment for pairs of children as they try to coordinate commands to one robot. (Author/BB)