2 min read
Have you ever considered teaching your kids how to program? Or if you’re a primary school teacher, have you ever wondered what it would be like to teach programming concepts to your young and impressionable students? Considering the pace at which our world is developing, and the way programming has become as much an art as it is a valuable skill, you’ve probably had these thoughts way too often. After all, programmers are among the architects of the future.
It’s no secret that programming can seem complicated, what with the syntax associated with different languages and the dreaded red error lines. How on earth do kids even wrap their heads around such a seemingly intimidating skill?
This is exactly why MIT developed Scratch, a simple and intuitive programming language that allows young people to create interactive stories, games, and animations using programming concepts. Scratch also offers an online community for support and guidance. You can check it out here. It is absolutely free to use, and it is an incredible experience for anyone who is just starting out in programming.
As a project of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab, Scratch is based on the simple idea of teaching programming fundamentals like loops, conditions, and functions with the help of a kid-friendly interface. It helps young people think creatively and work collaboratively on projects. Ultimately, it creates a solid foundation that allows its users to advance towards more complicated programming languages.
Now, even though the target audience is young people between the ages of 8 and 16, anyone looking forward to a fun way of learning programming can benefit from this platform. Scratch has made its way into the education system of various schools and colleges, and even in disciplines like language arts and social studies. You can find out more about what educators have to say about this programming language here.
So, if you ever feel like your kids or students could do with a fun way to learn programming and work on exciting projects, you should definitely consider Scratch. You can check out some really cool projects made on the platform here.
