{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,20]],"date-time":"2026-04-20T10:59:46Z","timestamp":1776682786829,"version":"3.51.2"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,23]],"date-time":"2023-08-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1692748800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"the project KML II\u2014Laboratory of Technologies and Learning of Programming and Robotics for preschool and primary school","award":["PTDC\/CED-EDG\/28710\/2017"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PTDC\/CED-EDG\/28710\/2017"]}]},{"name":"FEDER through the COMPETE 2020\u2014Operational Thematic Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI)","award":["PTDC\/CED-EDG\/28710\/2017"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PTDC\/CED-EDG\/28710\/2017"]}]},{"name":"FCT\u2014Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under project","award":["PTDC\/CED-EDG\/28710\/2017"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PTDC\/CED-EDG\/28710\/2017"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Education Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study focuses on developing and evaluating an online course aimed at preschool educators and primary school teachers. It presents a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on computational thinking, programming and robotics developed as part of the project \u201cLaboratory for Technology and Programming and Robotics Learning in Primary and Preschool Education in Portugal (KML II)\u201d The MOOC design was inspired by a blended learning model used in teacher professional development at the project\u2019s inception and incorporates theoretical-pedagogical models of MOOC design as well as theoretical models of online interaction in virtual educational environments. The course will be offered on the NAU platform, a Portuguese MOOC platform. A pilot test was conducted with a purposive sample that included both participants from the target audience of the course as well as national and international experts specialised in these domains. The evaluation included a Likert scale questionnaire survey and open-ended questions. The results aim to validate the MOOC\u2019s quality, including its structure, content relevance, proposed activities, and learning design. The findings provide evidence to improve the final version of the MOOC, contributing to its effectiveness and adequacy to the target audience.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/educsci13090863","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,24]],"date-time":"2023-08-24T10:47:08Z","timestamp":1692874028000},"page":"863","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Designing a MOOC on Computational Thinking, Programming and Robotics for Early Childhood Educators and Primary School Teachers: A Pilot Test Evaluation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3210-7980","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"L\u00facia","family":"Amante","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"LE@D\u2014Laborat\u00f3rio de Educa\u00e7\u00e3o a Dist\u00e2ncia e E-Learning, Open University, 1000-013 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0723-5729","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elizabeth Batista","family":"Souza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LE@D\u2014Laborat\u00f3rio de Educa\u00e7\u00e3o a Dist\u00e2ncia e E-Learning, Open University, 1000-013 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1086-2600","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ant\u00f3nio","family":"Quintas-Mendes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LE@D\u2014Laborat\u00f3rio de Educa\u00e7\u00e3o a Dist\u00e2ncia e E-Learning, Open University, 1000-013 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0813-1497","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maribel","family":"Miranda-Pinto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LE@D\u2014Laborat\u00f3rio de Educa\u00e7\u00e3o a Dist\u00e2ncia e E-Learning, Open University, 1000-013 Lisbon, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mangina, E., Psyrra, G., Screpanti, L., and Scaradozzi, D. 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