Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Further Reading
Although this chapter serves as a brief introduction to Scratch, it's far from exhaustive. It's
also a little verbose for younger readers, who tend to learn more quickly when their lessons
are accompanied by lots of colour pictures.
The Support section of the official Scratch website, hosted by MIT at
http://info.
scratch.mit.edu/support
, includes a link to a Getting Started Guide in PDF format.
The guide describes how to work with Scratch in a colourful, child-friendly manner, and is a
great educational tool. This learning experience can be enhanced even further when com-
bined with Scratch Cards, which are downloadable flash cards containing explanations for
each of the block types found in Scratch.
MIT also runs a user forum for Scratch, allowing enthusiasts of the software to learn together
and share solutions for common problems. Membership is free, and the site works well using
the Midori web browser included in the Raspbian distribution for the Raspberry Pi. The
forums can be accessed at
http://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/
.
The easiest way to advance your Scratch skills, however, is to play. The name Scratch has its
roots in turntablism: when a DJ spins a record, the needle creates a scratching sound. Just as
DJs remix existing songs into something new, Scratch enthusiasts are encouraged to submit
their creations to the official website for others to download, examine, modify and remix.
The official Scratch site currently hosts more than 2.5 million Scratch programs, making it a
perfect source for learning how Scratch is being used to create projects and for sharing your
own ideas with others. A list of the most recently shared projects can be found at
http://
scratch.mit.edu/explore/
.
