RE: Scratch

["Ray Catzel" <raycatzel@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I do not know what you are referring to in "power/text-editing  vs
basic-concepts-understanding/mouse-drags". I took a very brief look at
Scratch and much prefer MicroWorlds largely because it works very well with
my Elementary/Middle school students and I don't have a learning curve to
start something new. I could not find anything outstanding in Scratch that
would entice me to move from MicroWorlds, which the students really enjoy. I
see MicroWorlds as more than an introduction to programming: it is an
effective enrichment employing a constructivist approach to learning.
======ray

-----Original Message-----
From: mwforum-admin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:mwforum-admin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Daniel
Ajoy
Sent: May 24, 2007 1:15 AM
To: mwforum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Scratch


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.