About Scratch - Teach Computer Programming in Schools

Scratch is a graphical programming language developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab. Scratch takes advantage of advances in computing power and interface design to make computer programming more engaging and accessible for children, teens, and others who are learning to program. The Scratch software application is freely available and makes it easy to create interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art, and share these creations on the Web. Scratch is used worldwide by teachers to teach the basics of computer programming and as young people create and share Scratch projects, they learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively. This free online course introduces you to Scratch and its advantages in an educational setting, reviews the features and functions of the Scratch interface, and how to program using the Scratch software application. This course will be of great interest to teachers and parents who want their children to become familiar with computer programming concepts.