Coding for Kids
Lua for Kids
08/19/13
One is an open-source, graphical programming tool that’s highly acclaimed and popular around the world. The other is a new but similar tool from a Silicon Valley startup that’s backed by venture capital heavyweights. The first is free; the latter costs $50 to use at home. So, which is more appealing?
The open-source tool, Scratch, has been around for several years. My son started using it when he was six. It’s extremely fun and mostly intuitive. There’s also a huge community of users who post their games online, along with the “code” so you can learn from them.
And so my initial reaction to Tynker, the startup, was dismissive. I wasn’t alone. There’s a healthy bit of criticism online that Tynker is a rip-off of Scratch — except that Tynker is charging for their tool. It doesn’t help that the company is based in Silicon Valley, an area notorious for hype.
But looking closer, it’s apparent that what Tynker is really offering is a set of structured lessons that are built around their tool. For $50, you get access to the programming environment as well as a sixteen-lesson instructional course. I haven’t seen the lessons for myself but there’s a certain slickness to their web site that I like. Students earn badges by progressing through levels, and there are also quizzes in addition to tutorials.
There’s a certain appeal to that, certainly from my perspective as a parent. If I didn’t have an interest in programming, I could easily see myself paying for lessons. Fifty dollars isn’t a lot compared to what I’ve paid for music, swimming and extracurricular math.
So this is a case where I’m happy to let the market decide between a popular free offering versus a similar, but paid, offering that includes structured lessons and more guidance. I think there’s plenty of room for both.
(Editor’s Note: LuaForKids is no longer active. All links have been removed.)
