ScratchLabs: A Novel Professional Development Program for Technology Integration
Abstract: In 2008, Birmingham, Alabama became the first city in the United States to purchase XO laptops for it's entire elementary school population. We present a three-part professional development, called ScratchLabs, utilizing the Scratch programming language developed at the MIT Media Laboratory. ScratchLabs includes both technological and instructional support for teachers on the XO through in-service teacher workshops and in-class modeling in preparation for a science competition. The components of this model provided a sustainable way to support teachers in learning more about the laptop and to gain concrete strategies for utilizing it in their classrooms. The use of Scratch provided an innovative way to incorporate state-mandated objectives with technology learning in the classroom.