5/11/16 · Institutional

The UOC celebrates Scratch Day with outreach activities

Can Scratch, a tool for children to learn computer language programming, help reduce inequality? Within the framework of Scratch Day 2016, which takes place on 14 May, the UOC has launched an outreach project to bring Scratch to those groups of children and young people with difficulties, with limited economic resources, or at risk of social exclusion, in Latin America, Catalonia and the rest of Spain.
It's a tool for children to learn computer language programming.

It's a tool for children to learn computer language programming.

This April, the UOC has started a Scratch training programme in which 72 people have taken part, both professionals and volunteers from non-profit organizations, universities and schools, that work with children, young people and groups in vulnerable situations. The aim of the programme is for the volunteers to be able to use Scratch as an educational resource, and to contribute to bridging the digital, social, economic and gender gap in their communities.

On Scratch Day, an initiative promoted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University will carry out a series of fun programming workshops for children and families at its centres in Seville, Vila-real, Lleida and Terrassa.

Carlos Casado, professor at the Faculty of Computer Science, Multimedia and Telecommunications, and member of the Inventa group, explains that, through Scratch Day, the UOC wants to transmit the message that programming is not that hard. He asserts that programming develops the capacity for problem solving and that this simple tool is "a good way to overcome the fear of programming through play, and for making new technologies accessible, especially for children".


International Scratcher volunteer initiative

For 2016, the UOC widens the reach of its Scratch Day initiative to Colombia, Mexico and Peru, where Scratch activities with a social emphasis will be taking place, thanks to the involvement of volunteer teachers from the Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios in Bogotá, Colombia; volunteers from the General Ignacio Zaragoza school in Puebla, Mexico; and the teachers of the Colegio Tomás Marsano in Arequipa, Peru.

One of the aims of Development Cooperation at the UOC is to facilitate access to knowledge for everyone and to contribute to human development. Outlining the aims of the programme, Development Cooperation director, Gemma Xarles, explained: "This is an initiative that will have a great impact, because we are bringing a programming language to children from the most disadvantaged social backgrounds".

"The project is part of our international strategy, demonstrating the UOC's social commitment to the priority countries in Latin America," Xarles pointed out. She went on to highlight the importance of the collaboration with the Colombian Minuto de Dios University and other organizations, describing them as "key partners" that work with the most disadvantaged members of society.

The UOC's delegations in Latin America have helped in identifying social organizations with which partnerships can be established, the Faculty of Computer Science, Multimedia and Telecommunications has contributed in terms of Scratch content and expertise, and Development Cooperation has run the training programme for the 72 Scratch volunteers and developed the outreach project.

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