The Journey
View across the Charles River Basin towards Boston.
At the end of July, I was able to attend the Scratch @ MIT Conference at the MIT Media Lab in Boston, MA. Having been using Scratch with my primary school classes for about three years, but with little opportunity to connect with other teachers using Scratch, I was really looking forward to attending the conference and meeting other users of Scratch from around the world.
Travelling from Hull to Humberside Airport, I then flew to Amsterdam and then caught a flight to Boston, MA. The journey from the airport to Baker House at MIT was easy using the Silver Line shuttle bus to South Station, the Red Line subway and a short hike from Kendall/MIT station. Checking into the dorm room gave me a great view of the CITGO sign and Fenway Park across the Charles River basin.
Travelling from Hull to Humberside Airport, I then flew to Amsterdam and then caught a flight to Boston, MA. The journey from the airport to Baker House at MIT was easy using the Silver Line shuttle bus to South Station, the Red Line subway and a short hike from Kendall/MIT station. Checking into the dorm room gave me a great view of the CITGO sign and Fenway Park across the Charles River basin.
The First Day
Entering MIT!
Waking early with excitement on Thursday morning I set off for the conference which was a short walk away at the MIT Media Lab. After a great breakfast and a bit of connecting with some of the other attendees, the conference was ready to start.
In the first Keynote speech, given by Mitchel Resnick and Karen Brennan, we were asked to discuss, with those around us, our conference goals. After this discussion I decided on my goals as: getting Scratch into the curriculum and linking with other teachers/educators. Would I meet these goals by the end of the conference? Would I get other inspiration and ideas? After reading through my own notes and those of others and taking time to look back and get my thoughts in order, I think I’m ready to have a go at answering that question.
In the first Keynote speech, given by Mitchel Resnick and Karen Brennan, we were asked to discuss, with those around us, our conference goals. After this discussion I decided on my goals as: getting Scratch into the curriculum and linking with other teachers/educators. Would I meet these goals by the end of the conference? Would I get other inspiration and ideas? After reading through my own notes and those of others and taking time to look back and get my thoughts in order, I think I’m ready to have a go at answering that question.
Sensing with Scratch
Sensing Our World
One of the main recollections which will stay with me was the fact that there are so many brilliant people out there using Scratch. Everyone I met was enthusiastic and keen to share their experiences and listen to mine. I quickly realised that one of the exciting things about Scratch is its ability to interact with the real world through sensors and motors. This I thought was a great way to get Scratch into the wider curriculum. In the afternoon Mitch demonstrated one of the new features of Scratch 2.0 which is its ability to use data from a webcam in projects. This could be a really good feature. During the poster session, many of the exhibitors were showing other methods in which Scratch could interact with the outside world: MaKey, Makey; Nanoboard; Extended Sensorboard and others all showcased this concept very well. During lunch on the first day Matt Arnold shared some of his use of Scratch with Lego Mindstorms and also a simulation of the Mindstorms robot called NXT on Stage. All of these really inspired me and are things which I need to explore. I was connecting with others and I was forming ideas of how Scratch would fit into the wider curriculum through sensors and motors. In the evening we went for dinner at Za, a local pizza restaurant, and much of our discussion was about Scratch, the curriculum and using Scratch sensors with the physical world. My ideas and goals were coming together!
One of the workshops on the second day, presented by a group from Warwick University in the UK, was entitled “Sensing Our World” and demonstrated the use of the Scratch Picoboard with homemade sensors. This was a great session and just inspired me further. We managed to make a simple variable resistance sensor and experimented with others salvaged from toys. Again more resources for me to explore! I hope to stay in touch with this group and work with them in the future. I hope to do the same with all of the people I met!
So in conclusion I feel I met my goals and more. In the final session on the Saturday we were asked to consider and discuss what we would take away with us from the conference. These were mine: the importance of creative, computational thinking in the curriculum; the problem solving skills this gives to children; how Scratch, particularly when connecting with the physical world, can help integrate creative computational thinking and its attendant problem solving skills into the curriculum and the value of connecting with other teachers and educators. Computers are everywhere and our students are going to need the skills of creative computational thinking to help shape their future, the future of our economy and our country.
One of the workshops on the second day, presented by a group from Warwick University in the UK, was entitled “Sensing Our World” and demonstrated the use of the Scratch Picoboard with homemade sensors. This was a great session and just inspired me further. We managed to make a simple variable resistance sensor and experimented with others salvaged from toys. Again more resources for me to explore! I hope to stay in touch with this group and work with them in the future. I hope to do the same with all of the people I met!
So in conclusion I feel I met my goals and more. In the final session on the Saturday we were asked to consider and discuss what we would take away with us from the conference. These were mine: the importance of creative, computational thinking in the curriculum; the problem solving skills this gives to children; how Scratch, particularly when connecting with the physical world, can help integrate creative computational thinking and its attendant problem solving skills into the curriculum and the value of connecting with other teachers and educators. Computers are everywhere and our students are going to need the skills of creative computational thinking to help shape their future, the future of our economy and our country.
Final Thought
I can’t mention every moment which inspired me, but one of my favourite was when Mitch said that Scratch allowed kids to create their own problems.
And then solve them.
And then solve them.