Technology has been used to aid classroom learning for decades. But new ventures at the intersection of toys, education, and technology are embracing the minimalist approach. They emphasize self-learning and open-ended exploring. In the Oregon Trail computer game of the 1980s and '90s, students could be creative in how they stocked their caravans — but no matter their choices, the destination was always the same. Now, kids are making their own games, with their own rules. The goal is not to develop specific skills but improve the ability to think creatively.

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"We're motivated by the fact that the world is changing more quickly than ever before," says Mitchel Resnick (no relation to me), head of the Lifelong Kindergarten research group at MIT. "So our core question is: How can we help young people grow up as creative thinkers?"

One part of that answer is Scratch, a programing language that Resnick and his colleagues developed for elementary-school children that now has 3.3 million users. In Scratch, students have an array of basic computer coding commands at their disposal — such as "when the space bar is pressed, a object will move three steps to the right."

The Scratch interface. (Via MIT)

These simple commands can be combined in complex ways to create games or simulations. Scratch is also a social network in which kids can post their projects (anonymously — they aren't allowed to use their real names), explore their peers' creations, and adapt them — like an open-source code community would. On the comment thread of a Lord of the Rings-inspired Explore the Shire game, one user suggest that the game maker have Frodo dance. The game-maker, though first confused at how to do so, then coded a dancing Frodo into the game. Scratch is designed for ages 8 to 16, but anyone can sign up to use it.

There's a lot to be said about replacing more-traditional classroom skills (such as writing cursive) with coding lessons. Resnick says thinking of Scratch as just a means to get kids in computer science jobs later on is missing the larger point.

"The people who can bend the rules, or combine the rules, combine the elements in new and unexpected ways, they are the ones that tend to win."



"Scratch is part of a broader movement, helping kids learn to code," he says. "But I'd make an important distinction. For me what programming is about is a new form of creation. It's like writing. Why is it important to write? It's not because lots of people grow up to become professional writers. It's because when you learn to write, it helps you organize your thinking."

Fostering creativity in children in school is nothing new — but perhaps toys like finger paints and Legos are stuck in the analog age. Kano is a Lego set for the computer age.

Like Scratch, Kano allows kids to code games, but it also integrates a hardware component. Children assemble the components of the computer themselves — install the processor in a case, add a keyboard, build a speaker. Once connected, it's as much of a game as it is a lesson in computers: players "level up" by completing more and more complicated computer operations, eventually rising to code games like Pong and Snake.