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#1 2009-02-20 00:18:12

mpthompson
Scratcher
Registered: 2009-01-27
Posts: 4

Scratch inspired software

I've found myself very much inspired by Scratch with regards to assembling blocks of code to create a working software application.  To me, it is a paradigm shift reminiscent of the jump from DOS/Unix command line interfaces to more discoverable Mac/Windows/X11 graphical user interfaces (GUI) to interact with a computer.   While not perfect, modern GUIs have freed people from having to learn and remember what magic commands should be typed in to get a computer to do something useful.  Scratch seems to enable the same type of discovery with regards to programming, at least more so than any other development environment I have seen.

I'm wondering if the developers and users of Scratch would be supportive of efforts to adapt Scratch-like programmatic interfaces to other areas of programming and computer interaction.  Particularly with regards to students exposed to Scratch being able to take what they have learned and apply that knowledge directly to other environments that presented a similar or perhaps even identical programming interfaces.

For instance, imagine a Scratch-like interface to programming educational or consumer robotics.  I realize that Legos does this in a way with Mindstorms, but the Scratch interface seems to be almost a generation ahead with regards to sophistication and polish.  Or, a Scratch-like interface to programming embedded devices such as Arduino, Chumby or smartphones.  Or, perhaps even more mundane uses such as software automation where scripting languages such as VB, Perl, Python, etc. are used.

I'm curious if other software developers and educators have similarly been inspired by what they have seen in Scratch?  It would perhaps be useful to have a discussion about what pieces of Scratch are worthy of recycling in ways I describe above and what pieces might not be a good fit and require more innovation to fit other applications.  Or, what process one might actually follow to broaden Scratch to other areas beyond multimedia programming.

I would certainly be interested in communicating with others interested in this topic -- either in this thread or via email.

Mike Thompson
mpthompson(at)gmail.com

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#2 2009-02-20 09:18:00

Magnie
Scratcher
Registered: 2007-12-12
Posts: 1000+

Re: Scratch inspired software

I Think I'm To Young To Understand what your trying to get at. I Do Know That The Scratch Team is trying to make it so 1. you can play small multi player games and 2. (I'm Not Sure If There Trying To Do This) Making It So That A Project Can Be Converted Into a .exe  Is This Off Topic? I'm Sorry If It Is. But At Least It Provides Some Info!  big_smile

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#3 2009-02-20 11:51:28

mpthompson
Scratcher
Registered: 2009-01-27
Posts: 4

Re: Scratch inspired software

Magnie, thanks for the feedback.  In doing some research I've found that members of the Scratch team through the Lifelong Kindergarten research group at MIT are involved with:

Mobile Scratch: Developing tools that enable kids to create interactive media for their mobile phones—and to share their creations with one another.

Scratch Board: Otherwise known as the Picoboard and discussed in other areas of the forum.

Scratch Worlds: aka. Scratch for Second Life. Putting the playful and intuitive features of Scratch into a new programming language for Second Life. Making it easier for everyone to create their own interactive virtual pets, dancefloors, games, clothing, houses, and whatever else they can imagine.

Scratch Ed: An environment for Scratch educators to share stories, exchange resources, ask questions, and find people.

I've also read about the network extensions to Scratch you describe, but I can't find a reference to that right now.

Some of the projects mentioned above seem to be actively developed while others seem to be moving more slowly because the developers have their attention on other projects within the research group.

I guess my question was really about to what degree would the Scratch developers and community support efforts independent of the Lifelong Kindergarten research group to create software that is inspired by Scratch.  Such efforts might involve just loosely borrowing Scratch-like concepts to actually borrowing pieces of the Scratch implementation in Squeak and re-purposing it to other applications such as  Eric Rosenbaum did with Scratch for Second Life (of course licensing issues would need to be worked out).

As a independent professional software developer I'm playing around with ideas in my mind that would take Scratch in new directions.  I guess I'm using this thread to test the waters to see if such independent efforts would be welcome.  Sorry about being a bit vague, but my ideas are fairly vague at this time :-).  However, getting feedback as to whether independent Scratch derived software would be seen as competitive or complementary to the goals of the Scratch team would help shape my ideas further.

Mike Thompson

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#4 2009-02-20 14:55:18

Magnie
Scratcher
Registered: 2007-12-12
Posts: 1000+

Re: Scratch inspired software

Yeah, I've Seen Scratch Worlds But I Think It's In Development(Being Created)/Not Done. If Your Good With Squeak You Could Help The Scratch Team On Scratch or Scratch Worlds. (Maybe That's Why The Next Version Of Scratch Hasn't Come Out Yet...Cause There Working On Scratch Worlds...)

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#5 2009-02-23 12:48:55

DrSuper
Scratcher
Registered: 2008-06-10
Posts: 37

Re: Scratch inspired software

I am interested in cereating evolving activities and games for learning mathematics and science with Scratch in particular for K-8.  Imagine that both teachers, students and other developers would be able to start with a basic set of activities and games and they could evolve them into what suits them. The evolution will produce better activites as a result. I have produced a number of these that you can check out and I am hoping (and talking to the Scratch team) this idea will also be put into Scratch ED site. I would be interested in your reaction to this idea.

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