| NSF Org: |
IIS Division of Information & Intelligent Systems |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | April 25, 2014 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | September 6, 2016 |
| Award Number: | 1348911 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
John Cherniavsky
IIS Division of Information & Intelligent Systems CSE Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering |
| Start Date: | May 1, 2014 |
| End Date: | April 30, 2017 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $780,687.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $832,580.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2016 = $51,893.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
77 MASSACHUSETTS AVE CAMBRIDGE MA US 02139-4301 (617)253-1000 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
77 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge MA US 02139-4307 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
STEM + Computing (STEM+C) Part, Cyberlearn & Future Learn Tech, Centers for Rsch Excell in S&T, Alliances-Minority Participat. |
| Primary Program Source: |
01001617DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 04001415DB NSF Education & Human Resource 04001617DB NSF Education & Human Resource |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.070 |
ABSTRACT
This Cyberlearning Integration and Deployment (INDP) project brings together an interdisciplinary research team from the MIT Media Lab, the Digital Media and Learning Hub at University of California Irvine, and Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society to explore development and use of new types of online tools, activities, and gatherings to engage more young people in developing computational fluency, particularly youth from groups currently underrepresented in computing. The project builds on the success of the NSF-funded Scratch programming language and online community (http://scratch.mit.edu), where more than 1.5 million young people have created interactive stories, games, animations, and simulations based on their interests. The Coding for All project aims to provide new pathways into Scratch for youth from populations that are not currently drawn in easily to technological and scientific discourse and activities. The PIs are designing and refining a variety of interest-based microworlds -- introductory programming environments that are customized to particular interests of youngsters in those populations -- to provide easier and more inviting entry points for getting started with coding, and they aim to develop guidelines for designing microworlds that are simple enough not to be overwhelming, engaging enough to draw youngsters in, rich enough to allow creative expression, and tuned well enough to the interests and prior knowledge of new participants to foster curiosity and learning. In addition, the team is exploring how to use personnel in libraries and other spaces where low-income youth congregate to support initial introduction to and engagement with these microworlds and developing and refining tools to support interest-based on-line hangouts and unconferences, where young people who become engaged through these microworlds can meet peers and mentors to share ideas, form collaborations, and increase their programming and expressive capabilities. The PIs are collecting much data about the engagement and participation of youngsters, the development of their skills and understanding, and the development of their interests, and their analysis will contribute to deeper understanding of needed supports, pathways, and outcomes related to computational fluency.
This project addresses the need to draw in and promote learning among those in populations not served well by current educational practices and important national priorities in workforce development, equity, and the need for a technologically fluent public. The project's tools and activities will provide alternative pathways into coding, increasing opportunities for young people in non-dominant communities to develop computational fluency. The focus on public libraries explores how to use public educational institutions most geared towards serving the technology needs and diverse interests of non-dominant communities in taking advantage of new online learning opportunities. The findings from this research will inform researchers and practitioners concerned with STEM-related learning, online educational resources, equity in education, and cyberlaw.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The Coding for All project developed new online tools, resources, and activities to engage a broader diversity of young people in computer coding, with a special focus on youth from groups currently under-represented in computing. The project was led an interdisciplinary research team from the MIT Media Lab, the Digital Media and Learning Hub at University of California Irvine, and the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.
As part of the collaboration, the MIT team designed and developed a series of introductory coding environments called “Scratch microworlds” -- simplified versions of the popular Scratch programming language, used by millions of young people around the world. Each microworld includes a limited set of programming blocks, carefully chosen to support projects connected a particular youth interest area. For example, by tinkering with a music microworld, young people can see how they can use code to make musical melodies and beats; by tinkering with a soccer microworld, young people can see how they can use coding to make objects move and start building their own games. Each microworld provides a comfortable entry point for newcomers, while remaining open enough so that young people can express themselves creatively.
The MIT team also developed a collection of learning resources that build on youth interest areas (such as art, games, music, and sports). These resources -- including introductory videos, online tutorials, activity cards, and educator guides -- are now available free of charge on the Scratch website (scratch.mit.edu), which attracts more than 100 million unique visitors each year. To ensure that the resources reached broad and diverse audience of youth, the project team offered workshops for educators from libraries, community centers, and other youth-serving organizations.
The Coding for All project has resulted in new pathways for introducing young people to coding and new strategies for broadening participation in computing. The Scratch microworlds and interest-based learning resources are influencing other coding and computer science initiatives, providing a framework and design guidelines for promoting creative thinking and computational fluency across a diverse population of young people.
Last Modified: 08/28/2017
Modified by: Natalie Rusk
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