Melinda Renteria | Byte Beads: Leveraging Play for Learning

Student success is too often defined by test scores, which overlook the cognitive and environmental factors that shape learning. Many students struggle not from lack of potential, but from underdeveloped executive function skills and unequal access to resources - especially in computing.

The subjects available to students in school often reflect the available resources in the community, resulting in large gaps in education due to lack of resources.

These educational gaps become increasingly wide as students move through primary and secondary education into higher education.

How might we create an accessible learning experience that increases student engagement and exploration in relation to computational thinking?

Our Solution

Creating Intrinsic Motivation to Learn through Play

Using the Science of Learning, I designed Byte Beads, a playful unplugged learning experience that introduces children to high-level computational thinking through accessible, game-based activities. By embedding executive function (EF) practice - such as working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibition control - into engaging game play, the solution fosters both cognitive growth and deeper investment in a child’s own learning, without relying on specialized technology or resources.

Objectives

Strengthen EF skills (working memory, cognitive flexibility, inhibition control)

Engage children in their own learning through play

Introduce computational thinking through an accessible, unplugged learning experience

Meet Byte Beads

Byte-sized Learning, Big Impact!

Byte Beads uses beads and strings to create sound sequences for the players to follow and create through movement.

Players will be challenged by the increasing complexity of the sequences and encouraged to engage in collaboration with the other players through various game conditions.

The dynamic structure of the game ensures a unique game experience each time, encouraging learners to stay engaged and return for more growth and creative exploration.

Table Card

Players can customize the sounds they use for each game by writing the sound in the colored square on the dry erase board.

Wild Cards

Printed paper cards that introduce computing concepts and rule changes.

Beads & string

The string is wax coated thread with a clasp to easily attach sequences. The beads can be opened to be rearranged and moved.

Player Card

Cards for players to write their associations and keep track of the steps to take during their turn.

Spinner

A printed and laminated paper that uses a paper clip and a brass fastener.

Prototyping Game Pieces

From Everyday Objects to Playable Prototypes

With an emphasis on accessibility we wanted the game pieces to be easily replicated or acquired. The diagram demonstrates the design evolution.

Players arrange sound drawing cards into left-right sequences, then perform them.

Sounds written on colored paper beads are strung into sequences, symbolizing data in a program.

Color-coded beads correspond to colored sound cards; the string can split to create simultaneous sequences.

Each player builds a bead sequence tied to sound cards; sequences can be joined or rearranged collaboratively.

Prototyping Game Mechanics

Embedding Programming Concepts into the Play

We designed the game rules to align with programming concepts, providing an accessible introduction to these ideas while prompting computational thinking for children.

Decomposition

The process of breaking down a problem into parts like completing a portion of a bead sequence.

Pattern Recognition

Identifying similarities in a problem to make it easier to solve such as creating a sequence with similar elements.

Abstraction

Focusing on a specific element of the problem like attending to a specific bead color.

Algorithm

Creating a step-by-step process to perform the sequence like working with other players to perform a branched sequence.

User Testing

Letting Students Show Us Their Game Experience

Qualitative Interviews & Observations

After 15 exploratory focus groups with lab members, I piloted Byte Beads in a San Diego seventh-grade classroom. Using a slide deck, I introduced the rules and components, then observed 11 students who chose to participate during their homeroom session.

Following a 30-minute play session, my lab partner and I conducted informal qualitative interviews with the students to capture their firsthand impressions, reflections, and feedback on the game play experience.

“How can I move one bead without taking them all off the string?”

“Do we have to use those specific sounds every time we play the game?”

“Why are we playing this game in school, what are we learning?”

Many of the insights we received from the students helped inform our design choices for the materials we used for the next iteration of the game as well as the accompanying lesson plan for teachers.

Pedagogical Design

Partnering with Teachers to Assess Classroom Viability

I facilitated a professional development training at the San Joaquin County Office of Education, partnering with educators to evaluate Byte Beads' effectiveness in the classroom, as well as possible points of ambiguity that could hinder its success.

next steps

From Lab to Learning: Byte Beads in Action

Design Publication

My team and I are currently working on a design publication synthesizing our design decisions and computational thinking elements, contextualized within the framework of the Science of Learning.

Coming Soon!

Academic Outreach

Byte Beads is part of a larger organization, The Bead Education, dedicated to learning through play.

Make sure to visit our website!

Byte Beads is part of a larger organization, The Bead Education, dedicated to learning through play.

Make sure to visit our website!

Visit BeadEd

Key Takeaways

What I Learned Through the Design Process

Centering the perspectives of the User is Essential

This game emerged from exploring the gaps and frustrations that arise in programming environments when familiarity and experience are limited. It sparked an inquiry into how learning can adapt across multiple modalities, shaped by the tools and contexts people already have. By centering human perspectives, the design process becomes more focused, intentional, and responsive.

User Testing Shapes the Design

The game was tested with users of all ages from children to elderly in a variety of environments. Their feedback informed the materials and mechanics to make the game as accessible as possible. This project highlighted how insightful working with the target populations can be for an inclusive design.

Clear Communication is Invaluable

In an interdisciplinary team, we all have distinct skill sets that bring about an abundance of ideas and perspectives. Communicating effectively with one another aids in bringing those ideas to a meaningful result.