Learning computers through dance: mission possible!

Combining dancing and learning to use computers, is it really possible? Absolutely! See how we want to interest 5 young people^e and 6^e year thanks to this art.

The means to teach computers and to interest students in this discipline are diversifying. To achieve this, some will use the video game or promote activities such as " One hour of code ". More and more countries are now officially integrating the code and computer science to the curriculum. Rather original, a new project aims to teach computers… through dance.

A team of students and researchers from American Clemson University Created VENVI (“Virtual Environment Interactions.” This software allows users to create a three-dimensional virtual character, customize it and program it to dance.

The pupils are first introduced to a dance sequence. They must master it themselves in order to be able to divide it into several distinct movements. Subsequently, they are called upon to program their virtual character so that it reproduces the sequence. To do this, they use the various functions of VENVI. These include the programming of sequences, variables and conditions, essential functionalities in computing and coding. Students can thus program the virtual dancer so that he performs precisely the requested movements.

If the dancer does not perform the sequence accurately, students should find errors and inaccuracies in the code and correct them.

A video explanatory note of the project presents all the functionalities. Thanks to virtual reality and the wearing of augmented reality glasses, students can even dance with their character.

For several years, we have been interested in means that would allow to interest girls in computer science. One of the objectives of the VENVI project is precisely to arouse the interest of girls aged 5^e and 6^e year in programming and computer science, in particular through the gamification of learning. Different variables were studied and the results of the study conducted by the Study Group on Virtual Environments (Virtual Environments Group) will be available soon.