What is Scratch Coding?
“What is Scratch? And why do you mention it all the time?”
Scratch is integral to the STEAMLabs Africa learning process.
It is a simple, and accessible coding language, designed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for children. Using Scratch, children, and young people, are able to develop digital solutions to issues they are passionate about and create digital worlds to explore who they might be.
Scratch was founded by Mitchel Resnick, a Professor of Learning Research at the MIT Media Lab, and David Siegel, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of Two Sigma — an investment management firm, in 2007. It first began as a desktop application, allowing young people to create their own stories or games. In 2013, the application moved online; allowing users from around the world to share ideas and code together. Today, more than 200 million children across 196 countries interact with Scratch every year; including STEAMLabs Africa mentees, innovators and life-long learners (aka our students).
Scratch is so popular because it is designed for novices, in general, and young people, in particular. It teaches young people how to code by using visual inputs. So, instead of learning the mechanics of writing a line of code or stressing about a missing semicolon or forgotten bracket, Scratch helps users understand the logic behind that code by moving blocks from their toolbox to the page. As a result, it helps young people understand the logic behind coding in a fun way, thus allowing them to develop the skill quickly. Within no time, Scratch users move from simple animation to creating complex games, with instructions and rules. But this is not what drew STEAMLabs Africa to Scratch coding.
We use Scratch because Scratch helps our mentees code to learn, rather than learn to code. Coding to learn focuses on being creative, learning concepts and designing solutions through computer technology. As a result, learning is the primary outcome, not the development of coding as a technical skill. On the other hand, learning to code focuses on acquiring skills and developing competence in those skills. As a result, the efficiency of the code and whether or not it works are the primary outcomes of this process. At STEAMLabs Africa, we don’t want our mentees to develop technical competence, we also want them to develop a STEAM mindset; one that values collaboration, properly understands and appreciates failure and demonstrates a willingness to try. Scratch has built-in features, like tinkering, experimentation, discussion, remixing and exploration, that nurtures and grows this mindset.
This is why STEAMLabs Africa relies on Scratch; not because it’s a quick study for our mentees. But because it is capable of igniting and sustaining their interests, thus nurturing their talents and potential. Put simple, we chose Scratch because it helps us realise our mission.
