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University and computing magazine help children learn how to program

The Computing Laboratory at the University of Kent has teamed up with computing magazine PC Pro in an effort to popularise the way children learn to program computers.

PC Pro recently published an article that encourages children of all ages to experience programming by creating their own computer games using Greenfoot, an easy-to-use Java based programming system developed by staff from the University of Kent and Deakin University, Australia. By following the 12 easy steps to programming guide, children can build a simple game in a single afternoon.

Greenfoot has been designed specifically for children of school age and makes learning to program fun. It incorporates many features which make it appealing and relevant to today's children who are accustomed to playing sophisticated and visually stimulating games online. Greenfoot also provides a bank of ready-made roleplay characters along with various capabilities that enable children to control and manipulate them easily. This means that children are able to focus their creative attention on devising and building the game rather than producing the graphics. By writing simple Java code they are able to develop small programs, which can be extended and made as complex as they choose, and at the same time learn basic programming concepts.

Michael Kölling, Senior Lecturer at the Computing Laboratory, University of Kent, said: 'Programming is a creative, intellectually challenging and engaging activity that is both incredibly rewarding and highly useful, and Greenfoot makes it easy to do - so children no longer have an excuse for not doing it!'

With a new release of Greenfoot expected in February and an online games repository planned (where anyone will be able to play, rate, comment on and submit games written with Greenfoot in a similar way to YouTube) the future appeal of Greenfoot, as a way of teaching children to program, is ensured.

Further Greenfoot tutorials, teaching materials and user communities can be found at www.greenfoot.org.

Contact: mediaoffice@kent.ac.uk

Story published at 12:34pm 28 January 2008