ScratchPals: Connecting Educators

ScratchPals aims to help Scratch educators connect with each other and provide students with experiences in creative computing, collaboration, cultural exchange, and digital/global citizenship.ScratchPals was inspired by discussions and presentations at the Scratch Conference 2018 held at the MIT Media Lab, as well as by current Global Classroom technology practices of educators worldwide.

Here's how it works:

Connect
Sign up for ScratchPals and coordinate with a teacher in another location. Both make Teacher and Student accounts in Scratch. Each of you adds the other’s group of students to a class Studio.

Collaborate
Decide on a timeline for the ScratchPals partnership. Pair up students, mixing the two classes. Define the Scratch project, such as an animation with a specific curricular focus and creative computing learning objectives.

Challenge
Announce the challenge and create excitement! “Meet” as whole groups either in real-time using video conferencing or asynchronously, swapping videos or written messages. Students begin planning their Scratch projects.

Support
Students create individual projects but work closely with partners. They provide each other with feedback and suggestions via Scratch commenting and favoriting. Scratch Community Guidelines help weave in Digital Citizenship best practices.

Reflect
When students’ projects are completed, hold a closing video meeting or swap videos/messages between the two groups to showcase projects, recap the experience, share reflections, and show appreciation.