Scratch

["Daniel Ajoy" <da.ajoy@xxxxxxxxx>]

The following article appeared in the NY Times. I wonder
if members of the MWForum have tried it in a computer
lab environment.

I am personally a text oriented person, but I've also
noticed that the syntax of Logo is an obstacle in the way of
understanding programming concepts for elementary school kids. 

Do you think Scratch is a better balance between 

power/text-editing  vs  basic-concepts-understanding/mouse-drags

for elementary school and middle school kids?

Daniel




May 24, 2007
A Programming Language Like Playing With Blocks
By WARREN BUCKLEITNER

Scratch is a creativity tool from the M.I.T. Media Lab that 
turns abstract programming concepts like recursion into 
snap-together puzzle pieces. It is like a multimedia 
sandbox, where children 8 and up are welcomed as media 
producers, following the same philosophical blueprint that 
inspired software projects like Logo and Squeak.

Since it was introduced last week, demand for Scratch, 
which is available as a 36-megabyte download from 
scratch.mit.edu, has swamped the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology´s servers. The price helps: free with 
registration. Development costs were covered by Intel and 
the National Science Foundation.

Scratch´s drag-and-drop programming technique demands 
experimentation, and the software´s programmable objects, 
called sprites, can take on the form of your pet dog in a 
maze, or haiku words that self-narrate when clicked.

Future versions are in the works for mobile phones and 
portable computers, while the current download works fine 
on Macintosh OS X and Windows Vista, providing a free 
digital toolkit for anyone with a creative itch to scratch.