Mitchel Resnick

The Scratch Programming Language and Environment

Scratch is a visual programming environment that allows users (primarily ages 8 to 16) to learn computer programming while working on personally meaningful projects such as animated stories and games. A key design goal of Scratch is to support self-directed learning through tinkering and collaboration with peers. This article explores how the Scratch programming language and environment support this goal.

Digital manipulatives: new toys to think with

In many educational settings, manipulative materials (such as Cuisenaire Rods and Pattern Blocks) play an important role in children’s learning, enabling children to explore mathematical and scientific concepts (such as number and shape) through direct manipulation of physical objects. Our group at de MJT Media Lab has developed a new generation of “digital manipulatives”-computationallyenhanced versions of traditional children’s toys. These new manipulatives enable children to explore a new set of concepts (im particular, “systems concepts” such as feedback and emergence) that have previously been considered “too advanced” for children to learn. In this paper, we discuss four of our digital manipulatives-computationallyaugmented versions of blocks, beads, balls, and badges.

Scratch: A Sneak Preview

Scratch is a networked, media-rich programmingenvironment designed to enhance the development oftechnological fluency at after-school centers ineconomically-disadvantaged communities. Just as theLEGO MindStorms robotics kit added programmabilityto an activity deeply rooted in youth culture (buildingwith LEGO bricks), Scratch adds programmability tothe media-rich and network-based activities that aremost popular among youth at after-school computercenters. Taking advantage of the extraordinaryprocessing power of current computers, Scratchsupports new programming paradigms and activitiesthat were previously infeasible, making it betterpositioned to succeed than previous attempts tointroduce programming to youth.Our working hypothesis is that, as kids work onpersonally meaningful Scratch projects such asanimated stories, games, and interactive art, they willdevelop technological fluency, mathematical andproblem solving skills, and a justifiable self-confidencethat will serve them well in the wider spheres of theirlives.

Programmable bricks: toys to think with

In this paper, we discuss the applications and implications of the Programmable Brick—a tiny, portable computer embedded inside a LEGO ® brick, capable of interacting with the physical world in a large variety of ways. We describe how Programmable Bricks make possible a wide range of new design activities for children, and we discuss experiences in using Programmable Bricks in three types of applications: autonomous creatures, active environments, and personal science experiments.

Meme tags and community mirrors: moving from conferences to collaboration

Meme Tags are part of a body of research on GroupWear: a wearable technology that supports people in the formative stages of cooperative work. Conference participants wear Meme Tags that allow them to electronically share memes—succinct ideas or opinions—with each other. Alongside of the person-toperson transactions, a server system collects information about the memetic exchanges and reflects it back to the conference-goers in Community Mirrors—large, public video displays that present real-time visualizations of the unfolding community dynamics. This paper presents results from a proof-of-concept trial of the Meme Tag technology undertaken at a MIT Media Laboratory conference.

Some reflections on designing construction kits for kids

In this paper, we present ten guiding principles for designing construction kits for kids, informed by our experiences over the past two decades:* Design for Designers* Low Floor and Wide Walls* Make Powerful Ideas Salient -- Not Forced* Support Many Paths, Many Styles* Make it as Simple as Possible -- and Maybe Even Simpler* Choose Black Boxes Carefully* A Little Bit of Programming Goes a Long Way* Give People What They Want -- Not What They Ask For* Invent Things That You Would Want to Use Yourself* Iterate, Iterate -- then Iterate AgainWhile these principles apply especially to the development of construction kits, we believe that they could be useful for everyone who designs new technologies for kids.

Technologies for Lifelong Kindergarten

In kindergartens and early-elementary classrooms, manipulative materials (such as Cuisenaire Rods and Pattern Blocks) play an important role in childrens learning, enabling children to explore mathematical and scientific concepts (such as number, shape, and size) through direct manipulation of physical objects. But as children grow older, and learn more advanced concepts, the educational focus shifts away from direct manipulation to more abstract formal methods. This paper discusses a new generation of computationally enhanced manipulative materials, called digital manipulatives, designed to radically change this traditional progression. These new manipulatives (such as programmable building bricks and communicating beads) aim to enable children to continue to learn with a kindergarten approach even as they grow olderand also to enable young children to learn concepts (in particular, systems concepts such as feedback and emergence) that were previously considered too advanced for them.

The MediaMOO Project Constructionism and Professional Community

MediaMOO is a text-based, networked, virtual reality environment designed to enhance professional community among media researchers. MediaMOO officially opened on 20 January 1993 and as of December 1994 has more than 1000 members from 29 countries. An application is required to join, and only those actively engaged in media research are admitted

Creativity Support Tools: Report From a U.S. National Science Foundation Sponsored Workshop

Creativity support tools is a research topic with high risk but potentially very high payoff. The goal is to develop improved software and user interfaces that empower users to be not only more productive but also more innovative. Potential users include software and other engineers, diverse scientists, product and graphic designers, architects, educators, students, and many others. Enhanced interfaces could enable more effective searching of intellectual resources, improved collaboration among teams, and more rapid discovery processes. These advanced interfaces should also provide potent support in hypothesis formation, speedier evaluation of alternatives, improved understanding through visualization, and better dissemination of results. For creative endeavors that require composition of novel artifacts (e.g., computer programs, scientific papers, engineering diagrams, symphonies, artwork), enhanced interfaces could facilitate exploration of alternatives, prevent unproductive choices, and enable easy backtracking. This U.S. National Science Foundation sponsored workshop brought together 25 research leaders and graduate students to share experiences, identify opportunities, and formulate research challenges. Two key outcomes emerged: (a) encouragement to evaluate creativity support tools through multidimensional in-depth longitudinal case studies and (b) formulation of 12 principles for design of creativity support tools.

Participatory simulations: using computational objects to learn about dynamic systems

New technology developed at the MIT Media Laboratory enables students to become active participants in life-sized, computational simulations of dynamic systems. These Participatory Simulations provide an individual, “firstperson” perspective on the system, just as acting in Hamlet provides such a perspective on Shakespeare. Using our Thinking Tags, small, name-tag sized computers that communicate with each other via infrared, we add a thin layer of computation to participant’s social interactions, transforming a group of people into participants in a dynamic simulation. Participants in these simulations get highly engaged in the activities and collaboratively study the underlying systemic model.