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Of late, some of the best technology to come out of MIT's celebrated Media Lab has been built with whippersnappers in mind. The birthplace of the $100 laptop has also issued forth Scratch, a colorful, simplified app that quietly teaches budding young developers the logic of a programming language through animating a character, or "sprite."
The program consists of a four-panel window clearly organizing an elements library, scripting arena, staging area, and preview window. The elements for motion, sounds, and senses are the objects, actions, rules, and conditions of a programming language. Snap them together in the scripting area to make a sprite walk, speak, play music, or interact with other sprites. We applaud that the controls are intuitive enough for kids to begin with simple maneuvers while complex enough to build elaborate games and scripts that make use of various effects to share with family and other Scratch users. Read the full review.
Publisher's Description
From Scratch:
Designed for children, this freeware multimedia programming tool makes creating animated stories, video games and interactive artwork a snap. Scratch uses a simple graphical interface that lets users put together multimedia programs without any programming knowledge.
What's new in this version: This is the first version of Scratch on CNET Download.com.
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All versions:
4.1 starsout of 8 votes
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Current version:
4.6 starsout of 7 votes
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My rating:
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Results 1-7 of 7
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"A really good programming language. I use it myself."
Version: Scratch 1.3
Pros
Definitely love the interface. It is really simple, and anyone can get the hang of it. Really easy to use.
Cons
The biggest thing is that there is no .exe exporting. Looking forward to that in 1.5
Summary
I love this product. PLEASE COME OUT WITH 1.5 ALREADY MIT!!!
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"Great game"
Version: Scratch 1.3
Pros
Very fun. If there's a game you want but you can't get it, just make it yourself, put in your own cheat codes, make two player games. You can do heaps in Scratch.
Cons
I wish you could save as a 'exe' file, but it is for kids so that's pretty normal, does not put me down
Summary
WARNING: Play this once and you will play it 24/7!
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"Best I've seen to teach kids programming concepts"
Version: Scratch 1.3
Pros
Fun. Easy to learn and use. Teaches useful concepts. Collaborative sharing encourages exploratory learning.
Cons
None really. I wouldn't recommend this as game authoring software or anything, but that's not really what it's about.
Summary
This software strikes a great balance between being fun to use and actually teaching useful concepts. I put in front of an 8 and 10 year old, went through some basic things and let them at it. Within an hour they had built a simple game and were having a blast. Highly recommended. Nice job, MIT Media Labs folks!
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"Terrific teaching tool for children"
Version: Scratch 1.3
Pros
The concepts that can be taught with scratch go beyond just the animation. To do this you must be able to think sequentially -- a skill that is so needed for children. My students love it.
Cons
There is no con that I can think of.
Summary
The first thing to love is that it's free. The sprites and backgrounds are constructed for children to find attractive, such as a basketball court , a race track, or a beach. It's easy for young children to manipulate the characters and to master the skills they need, plus they are learning many important concepts while they play. There is also a social aspect to it where the children can upload their work for others, or download another's project and work with it. This is a program baby geeks can enjoy without all the violence or nonsense of a lot of the games they can play. Heck, they can create their own games.h
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"It was ok."
Version: Scratch 1.3
Pros
It didn't cost me anything.
Cons
It wasn't what i expected.
Summary
ok, but it doesn't hurt to try it for yourself.
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"Great, try it."
Version: Scratch 1.3
Pros
I find that as I like to do things my own way, this program is great. You can literally create your own computer programmes. I use it for anything from presentations to music to Gadgets.
Cons
It could use a little more input/output. Mostly the programmes made in it only run within themselves.
Summary
Awsome. Trty it. See the official site at: http://scratch.mit.edu , and see my projects at: http://scratch.mit.edu/users/billyedward. Just to give you some ideas as to what you can make.
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"it lets you draw stuff."
Version: Scratch 1.3
Pros
I like being able to draw your own animation.
Cons
it is not a good digital art tool. dont use this if your a master at digital art.
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