Training wheels for young Scratchers

[SimpleSi]

As well as developer mode - have a training mode as a transition tool

i.e a minimum set of GP blocks/Categories that closely match Scratch

This way - educators can introduce the GP interface without overwhelming new users

Is there a way of me producing such a minimum version of GP to demonstrate/try out e.g how do I remove categories and block from categories?

Simon

[JohnM]

There are two files in the lib folder you can edit to customize the palette:

AuthoringSpecs.gp: comment out lines in the 'initialSpecs' method to remove individual blocks from the palette.

Scripter.gp: Edit the list categories in userModeCategories.

The changes won't take effect until you restart GP.

Have fun!

[SimpleSi]

I will :)

[SimpleSi]

1st draft at making an introduction to GP for Scratchers by modifing AuthoringSpecs.gp

[SimpleSi]

Its as if they were twins separated at birth :)

[SimpleSi]

OK here is my 1st published draft
I'm in process of automating the amendment/build process but in the meantime this is based on V72 as that's what I started working on

https://www.dropbox.com/s/drxm7fy7oqeq8 ... g.zip?dl=0

[JohnM]

Nice!

I'm in process of automating the amendment/build process but in the meantime this is based on V72 as that's what I started working on

I did a quick diff and it appears that you only changed three files:

• AuthoringSpecs.gp (of course)
• one line in Scripter.gp (to add some extra categories to the user mode palette)
• one line in ProjectEditor (to disable arrows by default)

That should make it fairly easy to keep your changes in sync with new releases of GP. The biggest problem will be to merge new blocks that get added to GP into your modified AuthoringSpecs.gp. The easiest way to do that is to diff the latest GP's AuthoringSpecs.gp with the one you started from (v72, in this case). That will show you new blocks and any changes to existing blocks.

[JohnM]

It looks like you removed some categories between Aug 24 and now. It probably makes sense to omit the Data blocks and even "My Blocks" for beginners or young users.

What's the target audience for this? Do you imagine having just one version of "GP training wheels" or several versions, perhaps each version adding additional blocks? The Scratch team has had many discussions about whether Scratch should versions with reduced sets of blocks over the years. The benefit is that there are are fewer categories and blocks for a beginner to search through. Downsides include potential confusion between versions, the fact that different users are motivated by different features (e.g. making music vs. drawing with the pen), and the question of "where did that block come from" if a user with a limited palette version of Scratch views a project created with the full palette. So far, Scratch has stuck with the "one size fits all" approach, so I don't have any direct experience with customized palettes for beginners.

If you try this with kids, please let me know how it goes!

[SimpleSi]

What's the target audience for this?
Do you imagine having just one version of "GP training wheels" or several versions, perhaps each version adding additional blocks?

I just imagined it being used as an intro to GP from Scratch to be just used for a limited number of lessons (hopefully just 1 or 2) so Scratchers could get used to the different GUI without overwhelming them with new computing concepts at the same time.

Its just POC at moment - but very interesting exercise for me to learn about the internals of GP and how customise-able it is.

Simon

PS the only thing I couldn't seem to do was produce a repeat until c-block.
Please don't tell me
A. How to do it
or
B. Its not possible

as I am having fun trying to find out if I can and learning lots at same time :)

[JohnM]

Okay, I won't tell you until you ask... :-)