Scratching middle schoolers' creative itch

  • Authors:

  • Joel C. Adams

  • Affiliations:

  • Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI, USA

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the 41st ACM technical symposium on Computer science education
  • Year:
  • 2010

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Abstract

Each July since 2003, the author has directed summer camps that introduce middle school boys and girls to the basic ideas of computer programming. Prior to 2009, the author used Alice 2.0 to introduce object-based computing. In 2009, the author decided to offer these camps using Scratch, primarily to engage repeat campers but also for variety. This paper provides a detailed overview of this outreach, and documents its success at providing middle school girls with a positive, engaging computing experience. It also discusses the merits of Alice and Scratch for such outreach efforts; and the use of these visually oriented programs by students with disabilities, including blind students.