ScratchJr marks 10th anniversary
ScratchJr, a programming app for kids co-developed by the Developmental Technologies Research Group鈥攏ow housed at BC's Lynch School of Education and Human Development鈥攚ill celebrate its 10th anniversary on September 16.
Available in 18 languages and with over 50 million users worldwide, ScratchJr offers children ages 5-7 with the opportunity to learn the powerful ideas of computer science and literacy through programming and customizing their own animations, stories, and games. Youngsters can create numerous types of personally meaningful projects using a variety of programming blocks that connect like puzzle pieces.
It's now available as a free app for iOs, Android, and Chromebook. CommonSense Media awarded ScratchJr a 4-star rating, and characterizes it as 鈥渙ffering a rich and challenging environment for very young programmers."
The app is inspired by the Scratch visual聽programing language, which is aimed primarily at youth ages 8-16 as an educational tool that requires reading skills.聽 The ScratchJr creators saw a need for a more simplified way to learn programming at a younger age.
Marina Umaschi Bers (Caitlin Cunningham)
The project, launched by Marina Umaschi Bers in 2001 at Tufts University鈥檚 Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development鈥攊n partnership with Lifelong Kindergarten and the Playful Invention Company鈥攚as originally awarded a $1.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation.聽
In 2022, Bers, now BC's Augustus Long Professor of Education, and DevTech moved to the Lynch School, where DevTech focuses on the design and use of creative technologies that promote young children鈥檚 learning about computational thinking, coding, creating, and engineering in a playful, developmentally appropriate way. Supported by the Scratch Foundation, DevTech has developed numerous learning and teaching resources, has researched learning outcomes with ScratchJr and its curricula, and has networked with the global community to support its use.
As an example, Bers points to the free Coding as Another Language (CAL) curriculum for pre-K to second grade students that incorporates ScratchJr and KIBO鈥攁 research-based, hands-on coding robot鈥攖o expose children to developmentally appropriate ideas of computer science as well as to principles of literacy while at school, in after-school programs, and into the home.聽
According to Bers, she and her DevTech Research Group will share a decade鈥檚 worth of research, design, and development that created, enhanced, and expanded the reach of ScratchJr, including international partnerships, neuroscience studies, new prototypes, and curricular resources.
鈥淲e hope many people will join the wonderful DevTech team and me, as well as some of our international partners, to learn more about the work we鈥檝e been doing with ScratchJr, and all of the new and exciting future opportunities,鈥� she said.
Register for the two-hour (4:00-6:00 p.m.) virtual anniversary celebration on September 16, 聽.聽Additionally, DevTech will host an in-person event on March 16, 2025; to learn more, register at .