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"Scratch is a new programming language designed by Michael Resnick and his associates at MIT's Lifelong Kindergarten research group.\nThe service is designed for children 8 years old and up to learn the concepts that can be used from an early age for the foundation that allows for the continued learning of programming and other current skills.  Helping to form the ability to think creatively, communicate and analyze, use technologies, collaborate, and design, Scratch has been likened to an improved version of Smalltalk, which supposedly offered programming learning tools that operated with the simplicity of building with LEGO pieces. A similar \"snap and build\" design is used with Scratch as well, and the site is full of other learning tools and resources, such as printable flash cards.\nIt's available as a free download and runs on Windows and Mac OS X (Linux is on the way).  The act of programming is broken down in a sensible manner for children, complete with visuals, large icons and images, and drag'n'drop technology.  There is a bit of a community involved with Scratch as well; projects can  be added to the home page, and users can download these projects, as well as leave comments.  While Scratch was designed for children 8-16 years of age, the creators have noted its use with children younger than 8 years old, and even with college students as an introductory tool.  GirlSense  is another online community aimed to teach children concepts for today's collaborative and online world.\n[via]\n\n."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2007/07/22/scratch/>