Physical Programming for Blind and Low Vision Children at Scale

Abstract

There is a dearth of appropriate tools for young learners with mixed visual abilities to engage with computational learning. Addressing this gap, we present Project Torino, a physical programming language for teaching computational learning to children ages 7-11 regardless of level of vision. To create code, children connect and manipulate tactile objects to create music, audio stories, or poetry. Designed to be made and deployed at scale, Project Torino (along with a scheme of work) has been successfully used by 30 non-specialist teachers with 75 children across the UK over three months.