YOKOSHIKI Programming Education App

Yokoshiki is a new type of programming education application that we have created together with educational publishers. It is currently being used as a teaching material in the 6th grade science unit “Utilization of the Properties of Electricity” for elementary school students from 2020. You are set to be hired.

→ Come play with us on our YOKOSHIKI demo site!

Why a programming education app now?

In our society we live in, computers are found in many of the things we use around us, such as computers, home appliances and automobiles. In this context, it is important for us to understand how things work and how to use information appropriately. In this context, it is important to “know how things around us work” and to “get the necessary information” in order to make appropriate use of the information. Choosing and thinking” is becoming very important.

「Did you know that the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) is currently promoting the computerization of education? In this context, it has been decided that programming education will become compulsory in elementary schools from the 2020 school year.
In addition, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has launched the “Future Classroom and EdTech Study Group,” and the government is engaged in daily discussions aimed at improving the ability to use information technology as a tool (information utilization skills and programming thinking).

With this programming education mandate and free early childhood education starting in October 2019, the tailwind of Sales of programming classes, programming material services, toys and robots There is also an increase in the number of The level of need for middle and high school students tends to be higher, including app development and game development.
As a result, the programming market is expected to grow further and more people will see and be exposed to it in the future.

Planning and design born from careful consulting and in-depth research

Knowing this background of today’s society and the field of education, we have been working hard to develop a plan for Yokoshiki. Consulting.EdTech (Education and It is our great strength to be involved in the whole process from planning to completion. We think it is.

First of all, since this is a teaching material for 6th grade science, we started our research and investigation with the aim of creating an app that is not only effective for learning the theme, but also easy to use for both the children and the teachers.
Many of the teaching materials we found were in the form of vertical programs, similar to Scratch, an educational programming environment developed at MIT.
However, our research led us to the conclusion that horizontal control materials based on Google Blockly, a visual programming language and environment developed by Google, would be more effective in providing a simple feeling of operation and an easy-to-understand, step-by-step learning experience.

In order to allow more people to use it in today’s world of various devices, we need to make sure that it can be used by more people without installation. We chose to develop it in the form of a responsive web browser app. These planned and created designs were created in Adobe XD and proposed to the customer in a mock-up do. By getting a feel for the operations and transitions from this stage, we can help the customer and our company get a concrete It’s a great way to share your image.

Development of an app that is easy to use, fun, and allows everyone to learn well

Producers, designers, and engineers work together on development using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, code obfuscation, and other technologies.
We manage the progress toward completion, respond flexibly to additional requests, and explore and propose effective ways to present the site.

Simple UI/UX – “Usable and interesting even for beginners

In the square shaped display, the user makes a program with the square shaped blocks and moves the program from left to right.
The combination of the blocks creates movement on the screen as the lights and signals are moved.

The learning screen consists of brief explanations and instructional blocks for each stage, and illustrations that move with the instructions. The controls and screens are simple. It has a colorful and gentle color scheme, easy to read fonts, and other small details that naturally catch the eye. We focused on the design.
Ease of understanding is very important for children who are new to programming to be able to concentrate on their studies.
We believe that it is very important to have a design that is easy to understand so that children who are new to programming can concentrate on learning.

Furthermore, since the application is in the form of a web browser application, it can be used at home if you have an internet connection. It can be used comfortably on tablets and smartphones in any location. It’s also ideal for your child’s self-study outside of school.

Starting from 1 and growing indefinitely – stepping through the learning stages to deepen both programming and unit content

The first stage of the side-shaped display starts with one of the display blocks that make the LEDs glow. The first step is to move this one block.

The theme gradually evolved from “turning off” LEDs to “making them blink”, and the number of instructional blocks increased and the combination of them became more and more complex, including changes in color and time.
Finally, the final challenge is to program a full-scale traffic light. To move the vehicle traffic lights (stage 5) and pedestrian traffic lights (stage 6), the previous This is the stage where all of the learning elements learned in the stage come into play.
In this way, Yoko’s Science Unit for 6th grade students uses LEDs as the subject matter for the 6th grade science unit “The Use of the Properties of Electricity”.

Throughout the course of the study, I hope that students will discover that there are many other familiar objects with built-in computers, and that programs are used to make them work.
From the perspective of information utilization and programming thinking, it is important to realize that even a single system can be developed and applied indefinitely by creating or combining them in the beginning.
It is possible to develop knowledge and skills, ideas and actions other than things in the same way.
In many aspects of life, including making things, the sum of one plus one can be more than two. We want our children to understand this fact and to develop a great imagination.

Expanding Children’s Possibilities through Programming

Many children get excited when they learn that devices such as PCs and smartphones with built-in computers are not “magic boxes” that make our lives more convenient, but rather “boxes that work only when you give them instructions called programs.
Because the aforementioned “starting from 1 and developing infinitely” = “eventually creating something amazing by yourself”. Because we know that “it’s possible”. If you don’t know that, the computer will always be a “magic box”.
In order to expand children’s possibilities, I hope that they will take the first step toward learning programming with Yoko Shiki.

よこ式は、Just visit here to experience it, no registration or DL required!