SCRATCH - An exciting workshop for Upper Primary Teachers Grades 4, 5 & 6 and Early Secondary

Please bring your own laptop (Mac or PC) and have Scratch installed, which can be downloaded from http://scratch.mit.edu/download
Please check that your computer is running satisfactorily before attending.

MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) the inventors of LOGO have come up with new software, SCRATCH, which steps into the gap left by LOGO. SCRATCH is fully scripted programming which allows children to produce their own multimedia events, games, interactive art and much more. This software differs from earlier programming languages in two important ways. Firstly, the language elements are contained in jigsaw-type pieces which slot together to form the script, no more syntax errors. Secondly, the software is FREE! 
Teachers will receive a resources pack, including the software, and the day will provide an excellent chance to become familiar with the programming language and develop your own games and animations.
SCRATCH is a new programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, games, music, and animations and share your creations on the Web.

Proposed program for the day
9:30am – 11:00am - Basic building blocks of SCRATCH – What does what? Explanation and exploration.
11:00am – 11:30am - Morning Tea
11:30am – 12 noon - Education philosophy behind the program, plus a look at how one school uses it.
12 noon – 1:00pm - A chance to work on some programs.
1:00pm – 1:30pm - LUNCH
1:30pm – 3:30pm - Mitch Resnick speaks about SCRATCH “What’s on the disk?” and a chance to work on your own programs and/or explore the resources available.

More on SCRATCH...
SCRATCH is designed to help young people (ages 8 and up) develop 21st century learning skills. As they create SCRATCH projects, young people learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also gaining a deeper understanding of the process of design.

With this new software, called SCRATCH, kids can program interactive creations by simply snapping together graphical blocks, much like LEGO® bricks, without any of the obscure punctuation and syntax of traditional programming languages. Children can then share their interactive stories and games on the Web, the same way they share videos on YouTube, engaging with other kids in an online community that provides inspiration and feedback.