Programming

Scratch - @http://scratch.mit.edu

Scratch is a one of a kind tool. It allows students to program animations using programming logic. The programming is done by dragging and dropping commands into a script window. The students then choose what will activate the action or command they've dragged into the script window. They can set it to a button press, or time, or have it wait for another action to occur first. They can import their own characters, called sprites, insert their own sounds and backgrounds, or use the wealth of resources the come with the program. There is a wealth of tutorials out there. The basics, however, are covered by opening the program, clicking on help, and then on "Getting started". Students can also download programs others have created and see how they accomplished things in their projects.

Here is a video I created using Scratch:

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Kodu - []

This is an offering from Microsoft that is free and able to make games. Admittedly, I have not played much with it.