61–65 of 65 posts
This (along with the existence of the HTML5 version linked elsewhere in the comments, https://github.com/LLK/scratch-html5 ) is great news! I've always hesitated to point anyone at Scratch due to its non-open license. It's great to see that problem solved.
You'd point someone to an inferior learning tool because of your prejudice against non-free software? Really?
Hardly 'open' but if you're looking for something similar that works nicely on an iPad Hopscotch is also worth a look https://www.gethopscotch.com Bit more limited than Scratch but the new editing interface they just released works really well.
The script blocks (the code) that were front and center are now buried behind a few additional taps.
They've replaced buttons clearly labeled with text with icons that are sometimes cryptic even to me (let alone a 9 year old). Would you guess that an icon with an "i" is how you edit your code? I assumed it would just be some kind of read-only display of extended properties, not an editing capability.
And the worst and most subtle change is the de-emphasis of the X/Y Cartesian-esque grid. Before you had clearly labeled X and Y value textboxes and a grid with matching color-coded horizontal and vertical guide-lines to make it easy to understand the grid, and labeled light gridlines every 100 pixels. Now nothing is labeled or shown except while long-tapping to move a sprite's starting position. Anything that ties into math curriculum is a win (Cartesian coordinates, ordered pairs), and they took much of that goodness away in favor of a more "streamlined" UX.
I do like that they fixed the problem of moving large chunks of script blocks inside of the repeat loops though.
One of the older versions of Scratch had support for Lego WeDo. Does Scratch 2.0 have support for Lego WeDo? Would love to introduce it to my kids!
Yes, Scratch 2 does support Lego WeDo. To enable support, shift + click "More Blocks" and the "Add an Extension" button will appear. From there you can select the LEGO WeDo extension. [1] If your kids are into robotics, you may also be interested in MOSS - a modular robotic construction kit [2]. MOSS also supports Scratch programming, and in fact we are releasing our extension to the public this week (I'm the lead pr…
Ah, thanks for reminding me! I'd been keeping my eye on MOSS and they should be out now! Cool that Scratch supports MOSS as well!
Hardly 'open' but if you're looking for something similar that works nicely on an iPad Hopscotch is also worth a look https://www.gethopscotch.com Bit more limited than Scratch but the new editing interface they just released works really well.
I teach programming in the classroom using Scratch and just recently started using Hopscotch for younger learners (age 9 and 10). I really dislike many of the changes in the new Hopscotch release. they feel like UX designing run amok, out of touch with the audience of young learners. The script blocks (the code) that were front and center are now buried behind a few additional taps. They've replaced buttons clearly l…