Bots, Blocks, and creative computing
Nearly three dozen children entering first through eighth grade attended the Developmental Technologies Research Group鈥檚 ScratchJr Blocks and Bots Summer Camp, a two-week, on-campus program focused on programming, robotics, and storytelling.聽
DevTech, based at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, is directed by Augustus Long Professor of Education Marina Bers, who co-developed the free ScratchJr programming language, which offers children the opportunity to learn the concepts of computer science and literacy through programming, and customizing their own animations, stories, and games.
The tasks were tailored to the campers鈥� age and prior experience to ensure each child was challenged and able to enjoy the experience.
Over the fortnight, campers explored two new technological ScratchJr prototypes, Blocks and Bots, according to Bers, who launched DevTech in 2001 when she was a professor at Tufts University and brought it to 自慰视频 when she joined the faculty in 2022. These prototypes allow children to create their own robotic characters within a story using cardboard and other recyclable materials, and animate them by connecting motors, lights and sensors, using the ScratchJr programming language.
鈥淭he tasks were tailored to campers鈥� age and prior experience to ensure that each child was appropriately challenged, and able to enjoy a camp experience designed for them,鈥� said Bers, who is also the program director of the Master of Arts in Learning, Design, and Technology and has a secondary appointment in the Department of Computer Science.
鈥淭he children interlocked both and tangible graphical programming blocks, that connect like puzzle pieces, to program their character鈥檚 behaviors,鈥� she said. 鈥淯sing these tools, campers planned, wrote, programmed, filmed, and edited stories using the robots they created.鈥�
Andy, 7, a first-time camper from Newton, built a Pikachu鈥攁 small, Pok茅mon creature with long ears and a tail shaped like a lightning bolt.
鈥淢y favorite part of building my Pikachu was the motor, which made his tail wiggle,鈥� he said.聽
Max, 6, from Revere, who built a box-shaped cat robot with a spinning tail and eyes that lit up, described what he incorporated into his creation.
鈥淟EDs, electronics, micro bits, and other stuff that robots need, to do whatever we code them to do,鈥� he said.
The Lynch School's DevTech Group provides fun, age-appropriate technologies to advance children's creative learning about computational thinking, computer programming, robotics, engineering鈥攁nd about making the world a better place.
Leanne, a 10-year-old fifth grader from Newton, who despite having no previous experience with ScratchJr, built a complex robot with a rolling-eye head, legs and arms, ears that lit up and a body that folded in half.
鈥淭he 鈥榝unnest鈥� part was creating the head, but the hardest was the body, since the battery was in the back!鈥澛�
She also shared that given her experience gap, she needed聽 鈥減erseverance鈥濃�� one of the 10 components of the 鈥淧alette of Virtues,鈥� a metaphor coined by Bers in her 2022 book,聽Beyond Coding: How Children Learn Human Values through Programing鈥�that stresses that coding and creative projects can go well beyond computational thinking to nurture the development of human values, character strengths and personal growth among youth.
鈥淲hen I first came here, I didn鈥檛 know anything about ScratchJr,鈥� said Leanne.聽 鈥淚 needed more time to understand it, and I learned to persevere when things didn鈥檛 work out.鈥澛�
ScratchJr is available as a free app for iPads, Android tablets, and Chromebooks; the new Blocks and Bots prototype is in the testing phase. For more information about ScratchJr, see聽.
Jerri Chung `26, contributed to this story.