Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Scratch

Check out Scratch, another technology product from the guys at MIT who brought us Pico Crickets. This time, the entire program is computer-based, with no physical components, though you can, if you really want to, run it with some light and sound sensors.

Imagine the possibilities with this one. Programing the motion of your 'Sprite' - the character that you control - requires working with an X-Y coordinate graph. There are potential geometry or algebra lessons in here, I think. And the hardware requirements are almost nil... it can probably be downloaded onto most computers, even in classrooms. If nothing else, it's a great opportunity for encouraging students' creative and critical thinking. There's even room for some language arts curriculum: they could create and program some animated graphics to go along with a story they've written, or even tell the entire story on the screen.

It seems like a simple game, but as with most technologies, if you look a little deeper and imagine the possibilities, there's plenty of room for education as well.

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