Using Blockly visual programming language for controlling virtual robots

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-25
Author(s):  
K. Yu. Polyakov
Keyword(s):  
Programming Language ◽  
Web Applications ◽  
Visual Programming ◽  
Local Mode ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Desktop Computers ◽  
New Learning ◽  
Visual Programming Language ◽  
Learning Programming ◽  
Excessive Number

The article describes a new learning programming environment that makes it possible to control Robot, Aquarius, and Turtle virtual robots by means of Blockly visual programming language. The environment is a set of freely available web applications hosted in Internet. Such an approach provides for workability under all modern browsers both on desktop computers and mobile devices. Automatic verification of the correctness of problem solutions is available for all the virtual robots. Suboptimal solutions that use excessive number of blocks receive a lower score due to the rating system (from one to five "stars"). Offline version is available, which can work in local mode without access to Internet. Users can develop and distribute their own sets of problems for all virtual robots.

scholarly journals Use of a Visual Programming Language and Mobile Devices to Improves Students' Understanding of Process Control Systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (37) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Juan Carlos Travieso Torres ◽  
Daniel Galdámez González ◽  
Roberto Rodríguez Travieso ◽  
Arturo Rodríguez García
Keyword(s):  
Process Control ◽  
Control Systems ◽  
Mobile Devices ◽  
Programming Language ◽  
Visual Programming ◽  
Process Control Systems ◽  
El Sistema ◽  
Visual Programming Language

Nuestra principal contribución es la aplicación del lenguaje de programación visual (VPL, de sus siglas en inglés “Visual Programming Language”) y los dispositivos móviles (MD, de sus siglas en inglés “Mobile Devices”) para el aprendizaje de los sistemas de control, lo cual mejoró la comprensión de estudiantes regulares considerados dentro de un diseño cuasiexperimental. El empleo de un ambiente de enseñanza que emplea VPL y MD para abordar los sistemas de control de procesos fue la clave para resolver las dificultades de aprendizaje que tenían el estudiante con el método de enseñanza tradicional, y que perduraban a pesar de ya que se estaba considerando la alineación constructiva entre instrucción, aprendizaje y evaluación, actividades auténticas y un enfoque de aprendizaje basado en el diseño. Los elementos gráficos utilizados por VPL, tomados de una biblioteca hecha de bloques reutilizables, con diferentes formas y colores, facilitan la comprensión de los sistemas de control de procesos. También VPL muestra todo el sistema de control de procesos de un vistazo a través de los diferentes MD utilizados, que fueron computadoras portátiles, tabletas y teléfonos inteligentes. Ayudó que todos estos MD son bien conocidos y fáciles de usar para los estudiantes. La evaluación comparativa del rendimiento de aprendizaje de los estudiantes, con y sin el uso de VPL y MD, mostró la efectividad del rediseño en el modo de enseñanza. Se facilitó el aprendizaje de los sistemas de control de procesos, reduciendo las dificultades de la enseñanza tradicional y mejorando la comprensión de los estudiantes. Además, la autoeficacia de los estudiantes se vio afectada positivamente.

scholarly journals Hybrid Java: The creation of a Hybrid Programming Environment

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Noone ◽  
Aidan Mooney ◽  
Keith Nolan
Keyword(s):  
Programming Languages ◽  
Programming Language ◽  
Visual Programming ◽  
First Year ◽  
Programming Environment ◽  
Programming Environments ◽  
Hybrid Programming ◽  
Java Language ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Visual Programming Language

This article details the creation of a hybrid computer programming environment combining the power of the text-based Java language with the visual features of the Snap! language. It has been well documented that there exists a gap in the education of computing students in their mid-to-late teenage years, where perhaps visual programming languages are no longer suitable and textual programming languages may involve too steep of a learning curve. There is an increasing need for programming environments that combine the benefits of both languages into one. Snap! is a visual programming language which employs “blocks” to allow users to build programs, similar to the functionality offered by Scratch. One added benefit of Snap! is that it offers the ability to create one’s own blocks and extend the functionality of those blocks to create more complex and powerful programs. This will be utilised to create the Hybrid Java environment. The development of this tool will be detailed in the article, along with the motivation and use cases for it. Initial testing conducted will be discussed including one phase that gathered feedback from a pool of 174 first year Computer Science students. These participants were given instructions to work with the hybrid programming language and evaluate their experience of using it. The analysis of the findings along with future improvements to the language will also be presented.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document