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Because everything in old school programming is based on text, it is easy to explain it in a text-based written tutorial. The disadvantage of old school programminginsofar as the student is concerned is that the student is required to memorize difficult and sometimes arcane programming syntax, which is often the downfallof many aspiring programming students.
The advantage of drag and drop programming is that the student is not required to memorize programming syntax; at least not in the beginning. Thatleaves the student free to concentrate on concepts.
One disadvantage of drag and drop programming is that the mechanics are very difficult to explain in a written tutorial. It is sort of like trying to explainto someone how to tie their shoes in a written tutorial. You almost need to see it done in order to learn how to do it yourself.
The best way to explain many aspects of drag and drop programming is through "show me" videos.
Many of the available tutorials are video tutorials, which make it possible for you to see how others accomplish drag and drop programming using Scratch.Once you see how it is done, you should have no difficulty doing it yourself.
As I mentioned earlier, I also recommend that you run some of the student projects just to see what students are doing with Scratch. As I mentioned earlier, I believe that the projects are delivered to your browser as Javaapplets (or something similar) and most modern browsers are capable of running applets straight out of the box. If you do encounter problems runningthe student projects, you might consider seeking help on the Scratch forums (see Resources ) .
In an earlier module, I showed you a screen shot of the Scratch development environment . Once you have installed the Scratch development environment, you should take a look at the Help material that is available locally in the Scratch development environment on your computer.
If you pull down the Help menu, you should see at least the following two items:
As of March 2013, selecting Help Page from that menu will open an HTML file in your browser containing at least the following four items:
As the name implies, selecting Getting Started will open a PDF file containing information to help you get started coding in Scratch.
Selecting Help Screens will open an HTML file in your browser that explains the behavior of all, or at least mostof the programming blocks that are available to the Scratch programmer.
Selecting Reference Guides will open a PDF file containing technical reference information about Scratch.
Selecting Visit the Scratch support page will open a page on the MIT web site containing a variety of information about programming with Scratch.
Selecting the Help Screens... menu item in the Scratch development environment will open the same HTML file in yourbrowser mentioned above that explains the behavior of all, or at least most of the programming blocks that are available to theScratch programmer.
In the next module, I will begin the process of helping you to learn about the following computer programming concepts using Scratch:
This section contains a variety of miscellaneous information.
Financial : Although the Connexions site makes it possible for you to download a PDF file for thismodule at no charge, and also makes it possible for you to purchase a pre-printed version of the PDF file, you should beaware that some of the HTML elements in this module may not translate well into PDF.
I also want you to know that, I receive no financial compensation from the Connexions website even if you purchase the PDF version of the module.
In the past, unknown individuals have copied my modules from cnx.org, converted them to Kindle books, and placed them for sale on Amazon.com showing me as the author. Ineither receive compensation for those sales nor do I know who does receive compensation. If you purchase such a book, please beaware that it is a copy of a module that is freely available on cnx.org and that it was made and published withoutmy prior knowledge.
Affiliation : I am a professor of Computer Information Technology at Austin Community College in Austin, TX.
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