Updated Sep. 2, 2008
People from 69 countries have visited in the past 6 weeks! Interestingly, a lot of visitors from Australia, which has sent more visitors than any country except the U.S.
Aug. 22, 2008
The countries are listed in order of the number of visitors from that country (highest first).
USA
Australia
United Kingdom
Canada
Germany
Belgium
Israel
Brazil
Argentina
Taiwan
Spain
India
Sudan
Vietnam
Syria
Poland
New Zealand
France
Finland
Austria
South Korea
Sweden
Haiti
Italy
Thailand
Denmark
Indonesia
Malaysia
Greece
Ukraine
Chile
United Arab Emirates
Guam
Slovenia
Honduras
Peru
Philippines
South Africa
Bahamas
Uruguay
Ireland
Hungary
Zambia
Jamaica
Russia
Colombia
Bulgaria
Friday, August 22, 2008
Scratch, Alice, Greenfoot, Java, Python, Roblox
I did not know there were so many good educational programming languages!
Here is a new kids' encyclopedia article on Kids Like . info. It is our review of the best programming languages up to now.
http://kidslike.info/computer_programming_educational_programming_languages
Title: Computer programming -- educational programming languages
There have been several programming languages or programming frameworks designed to teach programming to student in elementary school, middle school, and high school. These are also used in colleges.
Here at kids like . info, we have reviewed several of the main ones. Here are the ones we think are the best educational programming languages so far.
We will use the words "child" and "student" interchangeably.
Quick Overview
Note that all 3 are used at the college level in addition to other age groups.
1. Scratch
* originally designed for elementary school children. Came out of MIT. Used to teach programming at Harvard.
2. Alice
* designed for middle school children. Came out of Carnegie Mellon
3. Greenfoot
* designed for high school and college students. Came out of University of Kent (England)
..................
1. Scratch
POSITIVES
Scratch is an easy place to start because
* There are good beginners tutorials
* There are many, many (almost 200,000) Scratch projects online. Most of them are games that your student can play
* It's pure drag-and-drop programming
NEGATIVES
* Scratch does not teach programming with functions.
* However, if you know Smalltalk, you can download the source code for Scratch and write your own Scratch functions
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
* Scratch is based on the language Squeak, which is based on the language Smalltalk.
* The Scratch team is based at MIT.
* Scratch was designed for elementary school children.
To teach your child programming with Scratch
http://www.kidslike.info/scratch_computer_programming_tutorials
2. Alice
POSITIVES
Alice is a good second step after your child has learned Scratch. You can also start a child (beginning around age 7) on Alice and skip Scratch.
*. It has most features of a real programming language, including functions
* The large number of graphics that come with Alice means you can make professional looking "movies" very quickly
* It is easy to add your own sounds
* Alice is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux
NEGATIVES
* There is no widely known website where you can share Alice projects
* There are few beginners tutorials
* Does not teach text based programming
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Alice is based on Java. The Alice team is based at Carnegie Mellon University.
A basic beginners tutorial
http://www.kidslike.info/programming_alice_lesson_1_alien_robot_teaches_...
How the Alice screen is laid out,
http://www.kidslike.info/programming_with_alice_what_the_different_parts...
To read the kids like . info encyclopedia article on Alice
http://www.kidslike.info/alice_programming_language_educational
To buy a textbook for Alice
http://www.kidslike.info/learning_to_program_with_alice_book_by_wanda_da...
3. Greenfoot
POSITIVES
* Teaches text-based programming
* Focused on making video games to interest students
* Available for Windows, Mac, and Unix
NEGATIVES
* Is not widely known
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
* Based on the computer programming language Java
* The Greenfoot team is based at University of Kent (England)
To see the kids like . info encyclopedia article on Greenfoot
http://www.kidslike.info/greenfoot_programming_language_educational
4. Traditional programming languages
When your student is ready to move on to a traditional programming language, Python is a good choice.
It supports concepts like classes, but is forgiving and does not force you to declare them.
This kidslike.info article discusses Python
http://www.kidslike.info/python_using_python_as_an_educational_programmi...
We recommend this Python book because it's about making games and is written in simple language
http://www.kidslike.info/python_programming_for_the_absolute_beginner_ma...
To see resources for teaching Java to kids
http://www.kidslike.info/teaching_java_to_kids_a_list_of_resources
People often consider using Squeak (also known as squeakland or etoy) instead of Scratch. We find that kids prefer Scratch because of the games they can share, and Squeak does not teach anything that Scratch does not.
http://www.kidslike.info/teaching_children_how_to_program_computers_comp...
5. New online game environments
There have been some interesting new entries. Roblox.com is a place where kids build multiplayer online games through a drag-and-drop interface. They can also open the script editor and code directly. The language is Lua.
Kids love Roblox, so they are motivated to learn this.
http://kidslike.info/roblox_using_roblox_as_an_educational_programming_l...
This is an encyclopedia article on Kids Like . info. We try to write in a style that is easy enough for children to understand, but still provides useful and important information. We are currently focusing on articles that have to do with teaching children programming. You can help us improve these articles by adding a comment with suggestions. If you have a suggestion about an article you would like to see, you can write it yourself or use the Contact Us tab under the logo.
Here is a new kids' encyclopedia article on Kids Like . info. It is our review of the best programming languages up to now.
http://kidslike.info/computer_programming_educational_programming_languages
Title: Computer programming -- educational programming languages
There have been several programming languages or programming frameworks designed to teach programming to student in elementary school, middle school, and high school. These are also used in colleges.
Here at kids like . info, we have reviewed several of the main ones. Here are the ones we think are the best educational programming languages so far.
We will use the words "child" and "student" interchangeably.
Quick Overview
Note that all 3 are used at the college level in addition to other age groups.
1. Scratch
* originally designed for elementary school children. Came out of MIT. Used to teach programming at Harvard.
2. Alice
* designed for middle school children. Came out of Carnegie Mellon
3. Greenfoot
* designed for high school and college students. Came out of University of Kent (England)
..................
1. Scratch
POSITIVES
Scratch is an easy place to start because
* There are good beginners tutorials
* There are many, many (almost 200,000) Scratch projects online. Most of them are games that your student can play
* It's pure drag-and-drop programming
NEGATIVES
* Scratch does not teach programming with functions.
* However, if you know Smalltalk, you can download the source code for Scratch and write your own Scratch functions
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
* Scratch is based on the language Squeak, which is based on the language Smalltalk.
* The Scratch team is based at MIT.
* Scratch was designed for elementary school children.
To teach your child programming with Scratch
http://www.kidslike.info/scratch_computer_programming_tutorials
2. Alice
POSITIVES
Alice is a good second step after your child has learned Scratch. You can also start a child (beginning around age 7) on Alice and skip Scratch.
*. It has most features of a real programming language, including functions
* The large number of graphics that come with Alice means you can make professional looking "movies" very quickly
* It is easy to add your own sounds
* Alice is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux
NEGATIVES
* There is no widely known website where you can share Alice projects
* There are few beginners tutorials
* Does not teach text based programming
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Alice is based on Java. The Alice team is based at Carnegie Mellon University.
A basic beginners tutorial
http://www.kidslike.info/programming_alice_lesson_1_alien_robot_teaches_...
How the Alice screen is laid out,
http://www.kidslike.info/programming_with_alice_what_the_different_parts...
To read the kids like . info encyclopedia article on Alice
http://www.kidslike.info/alice_programming_language_educational
To buy a textbook for Alice
http://www.kidslike.info/learning_to_program_with_alice_book_by_wanda_da...
3. Greenfoot
POSITIVES
* Teaches text-based programming
* Focused on making video games to interest students
* Available for Windows, Mac, and Unix
NEGATIVES
* Is not widely known
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
* Based on the computer programming language Java
* The Greenfoot team is based at University of Kent (England)
To see the kids like . info encyclopedia article on Greenfoot
http://www.kidslike.info/greenfoot_programming_language_educational
4. Traditional programming languages
When your student is ready to move on to a traditional programming language, Python is a good choice.
It supports concepts like classes, but is forgiving and does not force you to declare them.
This kidslike.info article discusses Python
http://www.kidslike.info/python_using_python_as_an_educational_programmi...
We recommend this Python book because it's about making games and is written in simple language
http://www.kidslike.info/python_programming_for_the_absolute_beginner_ma...
To see resources for teaching Java to kids
http://www.kidslike.info/teaching_java_to_kids_a_list_of_resources
People often consider using Squeak (also known as squeakland or etoy) instead of Scratch. We find that kids prefer Scratch because of the games they can share, and Squeak does not teach anything that Scratch does not.
http://www.kidslike.info/teaching_children_how_to_program_computers_comp...
5. New online game environments
There have been some interesting new entries. Roblox.com is a place where kids build multiplayer online games through a drag-and-drop interface. They can also open the script editor and code directly. The language is Lua.
Kids love Roblox, so they are motivated to learn this.
http://kidslike.info/roblox_using_roblox_as_an_educational_programming_l...
This is an encyclopedia article on Kids Like . info. We try to write in a style that is easy enough for children to understand, but still provides useful and important information. We are currently focusing on articles that have to do with teaching children programming. You can help us improve these articles by adding a comment with suggestions. If you have a suggestion about an article you would like to see, you can write it yourself or use the Contact Us tab under the logo.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Learning computer programming with scratch
Hi, we have launched kids like . info, at www.kidslike.info. We want it to be a great place to find educational games and toys and everything that is good for children.
Currently, user parenting.is.fun has been busy compiling a list of resources for teaching children computer programming by using scratch. Scratch is a software program built at MIT to teach children computer programming. It does it in a fun way by letting them make videogames, and then upload them to share with other children.
On this page is a list of the best resources for teaching scratch.
http://www.kidslike.info/scratch_computer_programming_tutorials
Currently, user parenting.is.fun has been busy compiling a list of resources for teaching children computer programming by using scratch. Scratch is a software program built at MIT to teach children computer programming. It does it in a fun way by letting them make videogames, and then upload them to share with other children.
On this page is a list of the best resources for teaching scratch.
http://www.kidslike.info/scratch_computer_programming_tutorials
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