Scratch is a new programming language designed by Michael Resnick and his associates at MIT’s Lifelong Kindergarten research group.
The service is designed for children 8 years old and up to learn the concepts that can be used from an early age for the foundation that allows for the continued learning of programming and other current skills. Helping to form the ability to think creatively, communicate and analyze, use technologies, collaborate, and design, Scratch has been likened to an improved version of Smalltalk, which supposedly offered programming learning tools that operated with the simplicity of building with LEGO pieces. A similar “snap and build” design is used with Scratch as well, and the site is full of other learning tools and resources, such as printable flash cards.
It’s available as a free download and runs on Windows and Mac OS X (Linux is on the way). The act of programming is broken down in a sensible manner for children, complete with visuals, large icons and images, and drag’n'drop technology. There is a bit of a community involved with Scratch as well; projects can be added to the home page, and users can download these projects, as well as leave comments. While Scratch was designed for children 8-16 years of age, the creators have noted its use with children younger than 8 years old, and even with college students as an introductory tool. GirlSense is another online community aimed to teach children concepts for today’s collaborative and online world.
译文:
Scratch -- 适合儿童的程序设计语言
Scratch是新开发的程序设计语言，它是由麻省理工一致力于启蒙教育的研究小组成员麦克尔雷斯尼科和他的助手所设计的。这项服务是为8岁以上的儿童所打造的，它可以使儿童从小对程序设计有所感知，为日后继续学习程序或者别的技能打下坚实的基础。Scratch语言可以帮助培养儿童进行创造性思维，交流，分析，使用科技，合作以及设计的能力，被视为smalltalk的发展版本（smalltalk提供与搭建简单的乐高玩具配套使用的程序学习工具）。与之相似，“Snap and build”也是为Scratch语言设计配套使用的。网站上还有很多其他的学习资源和工具，比如可以打印的快闪存储卡等。
软件可以免费下载，在Windows和Mac OSX上都可以运行，Linux也即将兼容。程序设计的过程被简化成儿童可以理解的方式，通过视觉效果，大图标以及图片，drag'n drop多媒体技术来实现。社区还有一部分也与Scratch语言相关，主页上不断有新的项目，用户可以下载并发表评论。尽管Scratch是为8到16岁的儿童打造的，但是设计者已经意识到它也可以成为8岁以下儿童或者甚至是大学生的编程启蒙工具。Girlsense是另一家致力于儿童学习的网上社区，它期望使儿童认识当今这个处处需要合作和网络资源的世界。