Scratch X Regis Schools
Happy SCRATCH Week!Every year, for a week in May, we celebrate the Scratch Coding platform and explore the ways it can be used by students, educators and parents in enriching a child’s education.
As you know, Scratch is “a programming language and an online community where children can program and share interactive media such as stories, games, and animation with people from all over the world.” Using blocks, students are exposed to basic programming principles and modes of thinking that help them think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively.
To kick off this week, we thought we’d talk about how STEAMLabs Africa helps schools explore the Scratch Coding Platform; through our after-school programmes. Since the beginning of the year, our lead trainer — Nicole — has been leading an after-school STEAM club at Regis Schools. The club is catered to Grade 1–6 students. Hour-long sessions with Grade 1–3 students are held on Mondays, while sessions with Grade 4–6 students are held on Wednesdays. In these sessions, we aim to demystify computer science fundamentals in engaging and memorable ways. We also empower students to develop, articulate and implement their ideas with those fundamentals. This is where Scratch comes in.
Scratch allows the students to pick up the fundamentals quickly, and apply them consistently. From a curriculum perspective, Scratch aligns well with CBC’s focus on digital literacy — which goes beyond the mastery of technical skills. Digital literacy is “defined as the ability of an individual to find, evaluate, produce, and communicate clear information through forms of digital communication.” Scratch enables digital literacy by encouraging learners to be intentional about the way they use technology to achieve results.
A 2017 University of British Columbia thesis found that Scratch allows students to “select, evaluate, and synthesize digital resources into a collection that reflects [their] learning and builds [their] knowledge” (p.48). Or, simply, Scratch empowers students to direct their own learning. It taught them how to form and nurture relationships with knowledge and to find ways to relate to new pieces of information. This is a crucial step in the learning process; and the difference between memorising a piece of information and understanding what it means.
Furthermore, the use of blocks in Scratch and the sequential way code is assembled, “developed into Computational Thinkers who ‘work with data and use a step-by-step process to automate solutions’ to authentic problems” (p.50). Put differently, Scratch helped learners think logically and be intentional about the steps they take. Students would often apply this skill in other areas of their lives, from their interpersonal relationships to goal setting.
Moreover, Scratch allows students to work together, and give feedback on each other’s projects. Thus enabling a collaborative learning environment.
Above all, and as Nicole reflected, Scratch works because students are engaged. As a result,
“Scratch is a really good coding introductory language for students.”Reflecting on the experience, Nicole says:
“It has been interesting to see their interpretations of my project suggestions. Also, the kind of questions they ask pertaining to what we learn is very interesting and I firmly believe that I’m also learning from them.”If you are interested in empowering your students with Scratch, please join us for our annual Scratch Week.