Scratch in the News

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (March 2013) New program at South Fayette furthers technology interest
"'Scratch has ignited the imagination of our teachers and students,' Owens said. 'They are enamored by their power to be creative and with their ability to create interactive characters, sound, music and more. Since students can download the program at home free of charge, they are extending their learning from school to home.'"

Huffington Post (December 2012) 'Kiddie-Hack': Primary School Developers
"Scratch provides kids with an exciting environment to create and share computer applications...Learning how to write code and how to build and run a programme is one of the most creative intellectual challenges a person can do alongside writing music and literature."

BBC News (April 2012): Programming project comes to primary schools
"Ms Sutcliffe said club sessions would be based around Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Scratch tool which lets children try their hand at programming by dragging and dropping code elements instead of typing them. Scratch is already used in many schools as an aid to computer lessons for children aged 12 and above."

The New York Times (March 2012): Computer Science for the Rest of Us
"At many other campuses, computer science departments introduce computational thinking by sparing students from learning an industrial-strength programming language in order to try applying the general concepts. Instead, students learn visual scripting languages that produce interactive animation. Scratch, which was developed for elementary and middle-school students, is one such language."

The Washington Post (January 2012): A fourth “r” for 21st century literacy
"Algorithms and algorithmic thinking give kids of the 21st century the ability to write software and change programs to suit themselves, their own creativity, and their desire to self-publish their own multimedia work. Wonderful open source, nonprofit (free!) multimedia programs like Scratch, designed by the MIT Media Lab, inspire kids to “create and share your own interactive stories, games, music, and art."

The New York Times (November 2011): Programming for Children, Minus Cryptic Syntax
"When Howard Abrams, a software engineer in Beaverton, Ore., wanted to teach his daughter, now 10, and son, now 8, how to program computers, he thought of the fun he had playing with Logo, the first programming language he learned."

Design Envy (November 2011): Scratch: MIT Media Lab
"It is difficult to judge the value of a platform upon first release. Some time is necessary to evaluate the realm of possibility enabled by the platform."

The Daily Targum (December 2010): Program Makes Gadget Control User-Friendly
"With the help of his students, computer science Professor Michael Littman is creating a way for people to program everyday devices using Scratch."

Wired.com (April 2010): Apple Rejects Kid-Friendly Programming App
"Apple removed an app called Scratch from its iPhone and iPad App Store last week. The Scratch app displayed stories, games and animations made by children using MIT’s Scratch platform, which was built on top of [Alan] Kay’s programming language Squeak, according to MIT."

NYTimes.com (April 2010): Apple Removes Teaching App From App Store, and Educators Complain
"Apple generally makes news by publishing new apps, not by unpublishing them. But last week, it made some educators upset when it removed an app, Scratch Viewer, from the iTunes App Store."

Amman Filmmaker's Cooperative (February 2010): Scratch Revolution Comes to Jordan led by Arab TV Soap Opera Stars
"Over 30 kids and adults from disadvantaged communities in Jordan were introduced to the world of animation and programming with the help of animated cutouts of popular Bab El-Haara TV stars and a powerful yet simple educational tool called Scratch developed by the team at MIT Lifelong Kindergarten Group."

Irish Times (January 2010): Scratching a Creative Surface
"Participants also hone their imaginative, artistic, and creative skills, as Castletroy student Andrew O’Hara discovered: “The people in my group were really interested in cars so we decided to create a race car game. Other students have created Tetris, basketball, or trampoline games, or devised their own story. It’s been a great chance to learn about subjects that would normally feel quite obscure, such as algorithms.”

For more news about Scratch, see the Scratch News Archive page.

For quotes about Scratch from kids, parents, and educators, see the Quotes page.