ACM TechNews

Creating a Computer Game Is Child's Play

New Scientist (08/02/08)No. 2667, P. 26; Fleming, Nic

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Mitchel Resnick developed Scratch, a programming language that children around the world are using to create interactive stories, videos, music, animations, and games. Inspired by Lego bricks, Scratch allows users to drag and "snap together" graphical building blocks, which each represent a simple programming instruction, into sequences that build up into games and animations. Resnick says the idea behind Scratch is to fill a void in children's activities, namely creating the interactive media that they spend so much time playing with. Since its launch in May 2007, the Scratch software has been downloaded by more than 300,000 children, and nearly 180,000 projects have been uploaded onto the Scratch Web site for comment or use by visitors. Scratch has been used to create the Scratch News Network, an animated newscast where community developments are related by a cartoon cat used as the software's logo. "Children are creating whole new genres of projects that we had not even imagined," Resnick says. Scratch is being used in more than 100 countries, with the biggest communities located in the United States and Britain. Teachers are using the program to teach students programming basics, among other things.

http://technology.newscientist.com/article/mg19926676.000

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