May 16, 2009 is Scratch day! This is an international celebration of Scratch, a software environment designed to help students create, learn, and program. Developed by the MIT Media Lab, students ages 8 and over can use Scratch to design their own stories, animations, music, and art. Students can share their projects with fellow “Scratchers” online. And the software download is free!
I have seen Scratch used in education in two places—both successfully. In a low-income community in South Los Angeles, the Computer Clubhouse provided urban youth assistance with Scratch and students created unique projects which incorporated their own images and music. Creating “low-riders” caught on as a popular activity. Computer science teachers I work with in Los Angeles public high schools have integrated Scratch successfully in their courses and report a high level of student engagement as students learn fundamental computing concepts. For either informal or formal computing experiences, Scratch is a wonderful way to introduce young people to computer science.
For Scratch Day events near you, check out the map at http://day.scratch.mit.edu/. If there are no events near you, consider hosting one. It’s a great way to meet fellow educators interested in teaching students to use Scratch.
Scratch can be downloaded at:
http://scratch.mit.edu/
Joanna Goode
CSTA Board of Directors