Coding with Scratch jr

Recently our EDTECH class experienced a seminar on coding with Scratch jr.  Scratch jr. is a web-based platform for drag and drop coding.  I like this program because it is free, intuitively learned and the entry level is so vast.  It has a low floor high ceiling effect.  One can simply make an icon move from one side of the field to another, or in extreme, can create a video game using the same podium.  Scratch also employs a great propensity for cross curricular pedagogy while including computational thinking.  This platform allows for venture into the exhibition of science learning, history etc.  There are many tools such as sound recording, text bubbles and background which can effectively display learning in a novel way.  In the emerging world of technology, incorporating and infusing computational thinking throughout curricular practise is becoming more and more mandated and necessary.  Scratch is a wonderful way to do this.  Sandra McAuley presented several artifacts of science assessments that were done on Scratch, they exhibited student learned knowledge and computational agency at the same time.

I will endeavor to include scratch as a presentation option in my practice.