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In response to a need to equip youth to become successful contributors to our growing digital economy, educators and researchers are exploring ways to incorporate computational thinking (CT) for all across curricular domains. In this paper, we take a place-based approach to examine how and what CT practices youth learn through designing mobile games in and for their own communities. We conducted three after school workshops with 29 participants (13 female, 16 male, ages 10–16) in a rural city in the Western United States. Youth designed place-based, mobile games to share stories and experiences about local environmental or civic issues using the Augmented Reality and Interactive Storytelling (ARIS) programming platform. We collected and analyzed a range of data including field notes, design artifacts, screencasts, and final reflective interviews. Using Brennan and Resnick (2012) framework for studying and assessing the development of CT, we illustrate how youth engaged with CT practices and how their local topics facilitated their engagement with civic issues beyond the screen. Findings demonstrate how youth can engage with CT practices and their local communities through designing computational artifacts. We discuss implications for how leveraging place-based computational tools afford equitable and accessible CT integration in interdisciplinary contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is considerable debate and ambiguity around what constitutes "computational thinking" (CT). In contrast to Computer Science which is generally treated as a distinct field of study, CT as a construct highlights the integral relationship between computing and other fields. Many recent efforts seek to map computational thinking by making high-level connections to other school disciplines. We argue that while these efforts may help identify specific curricular areas in which computing is likely to take place, they do not sufficiently capture the specificity and dynamism that is characteristic of meaningful computational integration. Worse, they exclude generative examples of computing integration that exist outside of the traditional STEM context or researcher-led efforts. In this special issue, we offer a counterproposal to one-size-fits-all frameworks of CT by exploring in detail how local, emergent definitions of CT develop across a diversity of spaces of learning. Reflecting on these examples can help researchers and educators alike cultivate an awareness of the ways in which learners and educators leverage computing to think, create, and participate across a variety of spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]