I decided to make something with Scratch, an educational programing language, primarily because I will be starting a robotics team this year at the middle school where I teach and it would be nice to have an introductory activity instead of jumping right into the programing language we will be using on the robots. I used Scratch to create a simple game where the little wizard has to avoid being touched by a witch that is erratically bouncing all over the screen, while trying to make it to a portal at the bottom right of the screen.
Scratch uses a Graphical User Interface, or GUI, to apply script to your project. There isn’t much to it, but the bubble shapes and varying colors really help a beginner jump right in, instead of spending time hunting around for where their script should go in relation to the other lines of code.
While I feel this is a great approach to take with those many students who probably won’t pursue coding any further after this activity, there are those who will take more classes later on, and learning from this GUI will put them at a slight disadvantage. This is not only because they aren’t using the real text based code that is used in most industries, but they are also learning based on what the script looks like only on the Scratch program. There are other options for coding using GUI that more accurately mimics text based script, such as RobotC, so that might be a better option for the more serious students.
I have to agree with the article “Imagining, Creating, Sharing, Reflecting” by Brennan and Resnick where they say “we think people have powerful learning experiences when they are able to connect their personal interests with the design of artifacts.” As a “shop” teacher (technology and engineering), I inherently gravitate towards hands on learning activities that require students to learn through making something instead of reading about how it’s made. But as is mentioned in the article, it goes a step further when the design is based on something you’re personally invested in. I know the fastest way for me to learn a new drawing or design program is to have a specific project that I personally want to see completed, rather than having someone else present me with project as an assignment.
I have to agree with the article “Imagining, Creating, Sharing, Reflecting” by Brennan and Resnick where they say “we think people have powerful learning experiences when they are able to connect their personal interests with the design of artifacts.” As a “shop” teacher (technology and engineering), I inherently gravitate towards hands on learning activities that require students to learn through making something instead of reading about how it’s made. But as is mentioned in the article, it goes a step further when the design is based on something you’re personally invested in. I know the fastest way for me to learn a new drawing or design program is to have a specific project that I personally want to see completed, rather than having someone else present me with project as an assignment.