Visual Programming Environments: Scratch and Alice
Many high school and university teachers are having great success starting their introductory computer science courses with visual programming environments, rather than immediately teaching a programming language, such as Java.
Scratch and Alice are two such visual programming environments. Both are free and easy for teachers and students to learn and use. I suggest starting your introductory computer science course with one of them.
Scratch and Alice are two such visual programming environments. Both are free and easy for teachers and students to learn and use. I suggest starting your introductory computer science course with one of them.
Scratch
Scratch is an online visual programming environment where you can program your own interactive stories, games, and animations. It can be used on devices with a recent web browser and recent version of Adobe Flash Player installed.
Get Started Programming & Show Built-in Tips
Scratch Teacher Resources
Scratch Tutorials & Training
Scratch is an online visual programming environment where you can program your own interactive stories, games, and animations. It can be used on devices with a recent web browser and recent version of Adobe Flash Player installed.
Get Started Programming & Show Built-in Tips
Scratch Teacher Resources
- An Introductory Computing Curriculum Using Scratch
- http://scratched.media.mit.edu > Resources
- Starting from Scratch: An Introduction to Computing Science by the Royal Society of Edinburgh
- Online Course Material "CS Principles for High School Teachers"
- Curriculum Guide - 20 60-minute lessons
Scratch Tutorials & Training
- Learn Scratch - Video Tutorials and Lesson Plan PDFs
- New to Scratch? - Webinars, videos, and guides
- Hour of Code with Scratch - Tutorials on creating an interactive holiday card in Scratch in one hour
- edX course: Programming in Scratch by Harvey Mudd College
- Learning How to Program with Scratch by Joe Hummell in Pluralsight
Alice
Alice is an educational software that teaches students computer programming in a 3D environment. It must be downloaded onto a computer or run from a USB drive.
Get Started
Alice Tutorials
Alice Teacher Resources
Alice is an educational software that teaches students computer programming in a 3D environment. It must be downloaded onto a computer or run from a USB drive.
Get Started
- Alice website
- Download and Install Alice: http://www.alice.org > Downloads > select the version
Alice Tutorials
- Self-Study: Getting Started With Java Using Alice 3.x
- Hour of Code with Alice and Garfield - Tutorials on creating an animation in Alice with Garfield an Odie in one hour
Alice Teacher Resources
- http://www.alice.org > Teaching > select the version
- Alice 2.0 Materials & Lesson Plans: Adventures in Alice Programming - free for K-12 use from Duke University
- Alice 3.x Instructional Materials website - includes Course Materials, How To Guide, Video Tutorials,
