Some people aren't able to access Scratch on the day of April Fools, such as being away from home, school, or time zone issues. I think that AFD website changes should last for a whole week rather than one day. That'd also be more worthwhile for the ST, why go through so much work to make changes which only exist for a day? If they existed for a week or longer, more people would get to enjoy them and it'd make the effort in changing the site more worthwhile.

Remember that Scratch is used for education. If the April Fools' festivities last for too long, this could distract students from their lessons. One distracting day could be fine, but a week can be pushing it.

Za-Chary wrote:

(#2)
Remember that Scratch is used for education. If the April Fools' festivities last for too long, this could distract students from their lessons. One distracting day could be fine, but a week can be pushing it.

“can be”, not “is”.

The Scratch website also serves as entertainment and has an educational aspect. Secondly, I don't think that AFD changes are necessarily distracting for students – they're just trivial and may not be as conspicuous as you think. In the extreme case, schools are better off instructing students to download offline Scratch, simply since the site was deemed “too distracting” for students. The homepage looks like one of those offline game sites that students would play on school PCs.

Prime689 wrote:

Secondly, I don't think that AFD changes are necessarily distracting for students – they're just trivial and may not be as conspicuous as you think.

Perhaps an educator could weigh in here to see whether such features have been distracting before.

Prime689 wrote:

In the extreme case, schools are better off instructing students to download offline Scratch, simply since the site was deemed “too distracting” for students. The homepage looks like one of those offline game sites that students would play on school PCs.

It's better for schools to restrict an online educational community and prevent teachers from using Teacher Accounts just so a feature can exist for 6 more days out of the year?

Za-Chary wrote:

(#4)

Prime689 wrote:

Secondly, I don't think that AFD changes are necessarily distracting for students – they're just trivial and may not be as conspicuous as you think.

Perhaps an educator could weigh in here to see whether such features have been distracting before.

Aren't you an educator? Would you allow students to use the Scratch site for their school assignments?

Za-Chary wrote:

Prime689 wrote:

In the extreme case, schools are better off instructing students to download offline Scratch, simply since the site was deemed “too distracting” for students. The homepage looks like one of those offline game sites that students would play on school PCs.

It's better for schools to restrict an online educational community and prevent teachers from using Teacher Accounts just so a feature can exist for 6 more days out of the year?

You got the point wrong. My point is that Scratch, in general, does cater to an audience looking for a fun site, not necessarily those looking for an educational site. That fact is true for every day in a year. If a school thinks that the Scratch website is too distracting because it seems more of an entertainment site rather than an educational one, then they discourage accessing the Scratch site for students.

The Scratch Team completely rejected even having the ability to toggle cat blocks because it's distracting - it's shocking they still do AFD changes imo.

Who says they're doing anything other than a studio this year - studio fun can be continued indefinitely.

Prime689 wrote:

Aren't you an educator? Would you allow students to use the Scratch site for their school assignments?

I am a math instructor, and as such Scratch is not a part of my curriculum, so I am not qualified to answer such a question. Furthermore, I teach college students, not young kids, so I have no experience on what may be distracting for Scratch's target audience.

Za-Chary wrote:

(#7)
I am a math instructor, and as such Scratch is not a part of my curriculum, so I am not qualified to answer such a question.

Prime689 wrote:

Would you allow students to use the Scratch site for their school assignments?

This is a hypothetical question.

Prime689 wrote:

Za-Chary wrote:

(#7)
I am a math instructor, and as such Scratch is not a part of my curriculum, so I am not qualified to answer such a question.

Prime689 wrote:

Would you allow students to use the Scratch site for their school assignments?

This is a hypothetical question.

Yes but he doesn't really have any more means to answer it then I or mybearworld or anyone does. He doesn't educate anything applicable to Scratch.

han614698 wrote:

(#9)
He doesn't educate anything applicable to Scratch.

Functions, derivatives, and whatnot can certainly be applied to Scratch. You have a sufficient amount of math operators in the coding language to graph a function.

Prime689 wrote:

han614698 wrote:

(#9)
He doesn't educate anything applicable to Scratch.

Functions, derivatives, and whatnot can certainly be applied to Scratch. You have a sufficient amount of math operators in the coding language to graph a function.

True, but why would you ever use Scratch for that when you could use literally any other program designed for this?

han614698 wrote:

(#11)
True, but why would you ever use Scratch for that when you could use literally any other program designed for this?

One edge that Scratch has against most programming languages is that it is a highly visual one, with an easy-to-follow syntax. It's helpful for students starting coding.

Prime689 wrote:

han614698 wrote:

(#11)
True, but why would you ever use Scratch for that when you could use literally any other program designed for this?

One edge that Scratch has against most programming languages is that it is a highly visual one, with an easy-to-follow syntax. It's helpful for students starting coding.

As far as I know about Za-Chary's teaching it doesn't relate to coding - yes, you could graph a function in Scratch, but why, when you could use a graphing calculator or desmos or something of the like?

And if his teaching does relate to coding and I'm mistaken, then I wouldn't think a college student that knows they're going into programming would have no experience and need to start with Scratch.

han614698 wrote:

(#13)
As far as I know about Za-Chary's teaching it doesn't relate to coding

It's not about his teaching or curriculum. It's about mathematics.

han614698 wrote:

- yes, you could graph a function in Scratch, but why, when you could use a graphing calculator or desmos or something of the like?

Because there is an educational merit when DIY coding a function grapher on Scratch, or any math-related project.

Prime689 wrote:

han614698 wrote:

(#13)
As far as I know about Za-Chary's teaching it doesn't relate to coding

It's not about his teaching or curriculum. It's about mathematics.

han614698 wrote:

- yes, you could graph a function in Scratch, but why, when you could use a graphing calculator or desmos or something of the like?

Because there is an educational merit when DIY coding a function grapher on Scratch, or any math-relating project.

Okay that seems reasonable. Wouldn't you think they'd go with Snap!, though?

Also see my last sentence that I edited into my last post on this topic, presumably while you were typing your response.

Okay that seems reasonable. Wouldn't you think they'd go with Snap!, though?

Scratch's language seems more appealing than of Snap!.

Prime689 wrote:

Okay that seems reasonable. Wouldn't you think they'd go with Snap!, though?

Scratch's language seems more appealing than of Snap!.

How so?

han614698 wrote:

Prime689 wrote:

Okay that seems reasonable. Wouldn't you think they'd go with Snap!, though?

Scratch's language seems more appealing than of Snap!.

How so?

snap seems less modern, thats one point i can think of

starlightsparker wrote:

han614698 wrote:

Prime689 wrote:

Okay that seems reasonable. Wouldn't you think they'd go with Snap!, though?

Scratch's language seems more appealing than of Snap!.

How so?

snap seems less modern, thats one point i can think of

Right but it's significantly more advanced.

College students don't need a pink purple and rainbows version of coding - they can use a different more advanced version.

han614698 wrote:

starlightsparker wrote:

han614698 wrote:

Prime689 wrote:

Okay that seems reasonable. Wouldn't you think they'd go with Snap!, though?

Scratch's language seems more appealing than of Snap!.

How so?

snap seems less modern, thats one point i can think of

Right but it's significantly more advanced.

College students don't need a pink purple and rainbows version of coding - they can use a different more advanced version.

how dare you insult rainbows and pink and purple /joke

anyways, why would college students need scratch or snap or anything simillar anyways? like name a specific scenario where they would (not a rhetorical question)