[论文解读] Rock bottom, the world, the sky: Catrobat, an extremely large-scale and long-term visual coding project relying purely on smartphones.

Kirshan Kumar Luhana, Matthias Mueller+3 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Aug 1, 2018

Child Development and Digital Technology被引用 3

一句话总结

Catrobat 是一款免费、开源的仅限智能手机使用的可视化编程平台，使全球青少年能够创建和发布应用程序，导入 Scratch 项目，并控制机器人、Arduino、Raspberry Pi 和无人机——自 2014 年以来，已支持来自 180 个国家的超过 70 万名用户，重点关注可访问性、包容性以及非正式课堂环境中的学习。

ABSTRACT

Most of 700 million teenagers everywhere in world already have their own smartphones, but comparatively few of them have access to PCs, laptops, OLPCs, Chromebooks, or tablets. The free open source non-profit project Catrobat allows users to create and publish their own apps using only their smartphones. Initiated in 2010, with first public versions of our free apps since 2014 and 47 releases of main coding app as of July 2018, Catrobat currently has more than 700,000 users from 180 countries, is available in 50+ languages, and has been developed so far by almost 1,000 volunteers from around world (the world). Catrobat is strongly inspired by Scratch and indeed allows to import most Scratch projects, thus giving access to more than 30 million projects on our users' phones as of July 2018. Our apps are very intuitive (rock bottom), have many accessibility settings, e.g., for kids with visual or cognitive impairments, and there are tons of constructionist tutorials and courses in many languages. We also have created a plethora of extensions, e.g., for various educational robots, including Lego Mindstorms and flying Parrot quadcopters (the sky), as well as for controlling arbitrary external devices through Arduino or Raspberry Pi boards, going up to stratosphere and even beyond to interplanetary space (the sky). A TurtleStitch extension allowing to code one's own embroidery patterns for clothes is currently being developed. Catrobat among others intensely focuses on including female teenagers. While a dedicated version for schools is being developed, our apps are meant to be primarily used outside of class rooms, anywhere and in particular outdoors (rock bottom, the world). Catrobat is discovered by our users through various app stores such as Google Play and via social media channels such as YouTube as well as via our presence on this http URL.

研究动机与目标

• 为在电脑或笔记本电脑稀缺的低资源环境中生活的青少年提供一个完全基于智能手机的可视化编程环境。
• 通过整合为视觉或认知障碍用户设计的可访问性功能，支持包容性、建构主义学习。
• 通过支持 Lego Mindstorms、Parrot 无人机、Arduino 和 Raspberry Pi 等机器人和物联网设备，将移动编程从软件扩展到与物理世界的互动。
• 通过在传统课堂环境之外支持应用程序的创建与发布，促进全球性、非正式及户外学习。
• 通过针对性的设计和推广活动，提升女性在编程中的参与度，受 Scratch 启发，但专为移动端优先访问而优化。

提出的方法

• 利用原生智能手机开发，创建轻量化、直观的可视化编程界面，无需外部设备即可访问。
• 实施跨平台、开源的架构，支持与现有 Scratch 项目及扩展的集成。
• 设计可访问性功能，如语音朗读支持、高对比度模式以及为认知或视觉障碍用户简化导航。
• 开发用于外部硬件的模块化扩展，包括 Lego Mindstorms、Parrot 无人机、Arduino 和 Raspberry Pi，实现实体世界互动。
• 建立一个近 1,000 名全球志愿者组成的社区，负责平台的维护与扩展，支持 50 多种语言。
• 整合多语言的教育教程和课程，以支持自主式、建构主义学习。

实验结果

研究问题

• RQ1 如何仅通过智能手机有效交付可视化编程环境，以覆盖全球未被充分服务的青年群体？
• RQ2 哪些设计与技术策略能够在仅限移动端的平台上实现完整功能与可访问性？
• RQ3 支持与 Scratch 项目的跨兼容性在多大程度上提升了用户参与度与学习可扩展性？
• RQ4 智能手机编程平台在多大程度上能够促进女孩和神经多样性学习者的包容性？
• RQ5 如何将移动编程从软件扩展到控制机器人和无人机等物理设备？

主要发现

• 自 2014 年公开发布以来，Catrobat 已在全球 180 个国家拥有超过 70 万名活跃用户，证明了其在仅限智能手机访问条件下的强大全球覆盖能力。
• 该平台支持导入大多数 Scratch 项目，使用户能够直接在智能手机上访问超过 3000 万个现有项目。
• 已集成如语音朗读和高对比度模式等可访问性功能，以支持视觉或认知障碍用户。
• 通过为 Lego Mindstorms、Parrot 无人机、Arduino 和 Raspberry Pi 等设备提供硬件扩展，平台已成功拓展至物理世界互动。
• 一个日益壮大的全球志愿者社区（近 1,000 人）正持续为平台的开发和 50 多种语言的本地化做出贡献。
• 该项目通过应用商店和社交媒体（尤其是 YouTube）被发现并采用，表明其用户获取具有强大的基层和自然传播特征。