ScratchR : a platform for sharing user-generated programmable media

Abstract

This thesis presents the design and analysis of the Scratch Online Community. Scratch is a new programming language that enables kids to create programmable media such as games, interactive stories, animations, music and art. The Scratch Online Community was designed to be a source of inspirational ideas, provide an audience for children's creations and to foster collaboration among its members. The online community is powered by ScratchR: a social media platform. This work involved the creation of the ScratchR platform, the use of ScratchR to create the Scratch Online Community and the analysis of users' participation in the community. In the lapse of three months, the community has grown to close to 30,000 members who have shared more than 24,000 projects. The community has successfully engaged children in creating personally meaningful projects and collaborative work. This work hopes to provide with a theoretical framework for analyzing and designing communities of user-generated content for children and novices.