Creation software helps young people develop 21st-century literacy skills

What has a low floor, a high ceiling, and wide walls? While it could be a tricked-out RV, the correct answer is Scratch (scratch.mit.edu), a free computer program from MIT’s Lifelong Kindergarten Group that’s changing the landscape of how young people learn programming, engage in media-based project creation, and develop 21st-century literacy skills.

There has been a slow, steady movement by schools and libraries throughout the world to adopt Scratch. In pockets across the United States, public library staff are offering Scratch-based workshops that allow kids to gain fluency in rich media content creation, programming, and literacy skills. But what is Scratch and why might you want to use it in your school or library?

What is Scratch?

Scratch falls into the category of rich media content creation software—it offers an important avenue for creative self-expression by allowing users to create animation, interactive games, and art, as well as learn math and programming concepts. It works a little bit like Flash® (an animation program), somewhat like a game engine, and in part like a drawing program. Scratch is supported by a vibrant online community where projects (currently numbering over 250,000) are posted, downloaded, remixed, and uploaded. Project galleries allow users with like interests to build off one another’s work in a collaborative environment.

Projects posted to the Scratch Web site are protected by the Creative Commons “attribution-share alike” license, and each uploaded project has an embedded code that provides attribution to the original source, allowing young people to retain ownership of their work. This attribution process provides an excellent opportunity for a discussion with learners about copyright and creativity, key facets of information literacy.

So what does it mean that Scratch has “a low floor, a high ceiling, and wide walls?” Scratch’s low floor means that the entry bar for starting projects is accessible to most users. Just about anyone can open an already created project and change (remix) it. While the underlying programming is complex, the code is bundled into small blocks that are descriptive and snap together readily. Its high ceiling allows motivated individuals to create quite complex projects that involve multiple sprites (characters), variables, and background stages, each of which can be programmed to interact in a range of ways. Scratch has wide walls because projects can incorporate music, sound, and digital images, and can be designed to be interactive. Some users have even created virtual worlds in Scratch. The Scratch Team at MIT has posted resources that explain the underlying constructionist educational philosophy that guides Scratch and facilitates its use. The youngsters we’ve worked with like to create interactive art—drawing and animating manga characters and creating Scratch replicas of their favorite contemporary or classic video game. Others use it to record and edit sound loops, creating a mini-music video.

Scratch-based programs

In the Minneapolis area, the Hennepin County Library has developed a range of programs based on Scratch that led to the receipt of an Institute for Museum and Library Services Nation of Leaders Demonstration grant in 2008. That project, Media MashUp, allows us to bring this successful programming to a group of national partners—Memphis (TN), Seattle (WA), Philadelphia (PA), Wilmette (IL), and Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (NC) Public Libraries—to determine if the workshops and classes for young people are replicable and sustainable for a range of libraries.

The project is looking at best practices for innovative technology program implementation so that the library community can learn what it takes to succeed. In addition, with generous funding from the Best Buy Children’s Foundation, the Hennepin County Library has developed a teen employment program called the Teen Tech Squad that allows us to hire, train, employ, and mentor youth ages 14 to 18 to teach workshops on Scratch and related software such as Picasa, Art Rage and Audacity to other young people. This has been a successful program and has allowed youngsters in the area to develop a good relationship with the library staff as well as important literacy skills.

Literacy skills

Literacy in the 21st century encompasses the full range of skills needed to engage in our global society—computer, information technology, media, and information literacy skills. School-based media centers and public libraries are a natural fit for Scratch which provides a platform for developing projects based on digital and print media or math and computer programming and, of course, information and digital media literacy. For example, my 11-year-old son’s school has Scratch available on all of the networked computers. He’s a Scratch enthusiast, and when his teacher gave all the reading groups (the kids were reading science fiction) an assignment to create a project about an alien race, he and his group used Scratch as their platform. They drew the creatures and also animated them to interact with one another. Also, after reading Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game, he created a Scratch version of the “Bugger’s War,” complete with space ships that swarmed when nearing the foe’s battle ship. It’s a pretty cool way to see what he took away from the book while using the digital medium that he prizes.

While some library staff initially felt they needed to know more than the young people about using Scratch, we quickly learned that the real key to successful teaching lies in our ability to ask informed questions and encourage the program’s users to consult one another for problem solving. And when we gave ourselves the opportunity to learn along with these young people, we learned a lot more. Scratch is intuitive. The programming blocks are designed to mirror Lego® bricks—if the blocks can snap together they can program together. The library staff has learned to sit back and let the young people take the lead in using Scratch, stepping in primarily for creative consultation and to help solve technical problems with computers, digital cameras, or Internet connections. You don’t have to be a programmer, an artist, or even heavily invested in digital skills to offer successful workshops. Scratch provides an ideal platform for entry into the arena of innovative technology programming for youth.

Scratch and video games

Scratch not only allows users to engage in content creation, it also helps them understand how video games work through the use of the programming blocks. They can take apart and rebuild programs while gaining familiarity with concepts like game scoring and timing variables. While you can’t use Scratch to create complexly layered and textured video games, you can use it to develop a thorough understanding of how the layers of video games are combined—character development and interaction, narrative content and pacing, music selection and timing, script, and more. While creating a personalized version of a game like Pong, Pac-Man, or Asteroids, users develop an appreciation for the depth of work and attention to detail that goes into creating a successful video game. Building game projects also allows young people to develop media literacy skills, collaborate and problem solve in a safe learning environment, and become wiser consumers of video games.

In addition to being a computer program, Scratch has a vibrant Web and social networking presence. There is an international Scratch community that provides support, encouragement, and guidance. In celebration of this international community, MIT is hosting an international Scratch Day on May 16, 2009. And it’s not too late for you to hop on board. Library staff can contact me for information on how to develop and offer a Scratch program. We’ve got lots of experience under our belts and can’t wait to share it.