In my previous blog post, “Makey Makey Music”, I have addressed the free program called Scratch that allowed me to give sound to my instrument with the help of Makey Makey. Scratch is a great program to use in the classroom because its versatility to make projects. I was able to create art in the physical form and digital form. Scratches foundation of digital art creates a large community that fosters collaboration.
Scratch is a program offered in 50 different languages and has an active user community. In fact, their community is so active that more than one new project is uploaded to Scratch every minute. With this type of global network, many people can share their work and receive feedback while they play others games and provide feedback. Scratch’s free registration and quick, global input and output fuels the large community. But scratch does more than offer global feedback, larger network collaboration, digital art experience to students when used in the classroom. Scratch offers many independent opportunities for growth.
Students get an easy introduction to the concept of programming and build on problem solving skills through tinkerabilty. Students get a simple introduction to programming through the building of lego bricks which have different functions. There are different categories that a color coded for groups of functions. This enhances simple navigation and classification of commands needed for introductory programming. The easy drag and drop function of these blocks provides quick, visual feedback which can be tested at any time due to the building block method of Scratch. These commonly understood navigation methods and color coding lego bricks foster students tinkerability with the program. Students become self-directed learners when they tinker in the program. They learn to swap out blocks, add new threads, and the separation among commands needed with the addition of new sprites.
Scratch is a program dedicated to make a simple transition to programming language and structure. It offers a strong community for feedback and collaboration while giving students the freedom to self-explore Scratch’s easy building and navigation tools. It is simple to say that Scratch fosters a learning environment healthy for students in many ways. The use of digital programming in the art classroom through Scratch allows students to explore new ideas with high exposure to a diverse cultural community. Students can learn more about themselves and the world through Scratch. The integration of technology in the arts is essential in understanding the overall community of the arts. I would highly recommend this program in a classroom setting as it provides connections to art globally, and forms connections to aspects of programming in different fields such as engineering.
SOURCE: The Scratch Programming Language and Environment by John Maloney, Mitchel Resnick, Natalie Rusk, Brian Silverman, and Evelyn Eastmond. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, (2010).
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