I traditionally taught my 90-minute introduction to Scratch session in a linear, step-by-step fashion but that proved slightly boring, even with mini-challenges interspersed throughout the session. The approach seemed to divorce its implementation from anything the students considered useful and certainly did not reflect the exploratory way they make sense of new technologies outside school.

Creative writing stimulated by the  Samorost 2 online game, edited in the Twitterverse, with an introduction to Scratch programming thrown in for good measure, proved a fun and rewarding combination. The activities were carried out with Year Five and Six pupils visiting Silverstone Study Centre for two-hour, out-of-school-hours study support session as a part of the Playing for Success programme.

David Weinberger’s 2002 ‘Small Pieces Loosely Joined‘ outlined what was important about the web, offering a framework for understanding its far-reaching effects on our lives and societies. The accompanying ‘kids’ version made the ideas accessible to a younger audience. I used it with my students for quite a few years and it was effective in helping them stop and think about something that they were beginning to take for granted. Seven years later it feels slightly dated although the principles and central message still ring true- for me at least. A collaborative spruce-up...