Rik Cross
I am Director of Informal Learning at the Raspberry Pi Foundation, previously a secondary ICT and Computing teacher.
Location Leeds and Cambridge UK
Activity
-
Hi Catherine. To download your Scratch projects, click 'File' and then 'Download to computer'. The downloaded file should have a .sb2 extension. You can then upload this file back into online Scratch, or offline if you have Scratch installed.
-
Rik Cross replied to Heather Floberg
Hi Heather. Try putting the SD card from the working Pi into the one that isn't working. This will allow you to work out whether the problem lies with the Pi itself or the card.
-
Me too, Joseph!
-
Hi Yigang. 'Spotting patterns' means trying to avoid solving the same (or similar) problems multiple times, and instead trying to spot similarities in a set of problems and developing suitably flexible solutions.
For example, you could write some code to draw a triangle, and some separate code to draw a square, but as you can see... this approach isn't very...
-
Hi Juan, you might also be interested in our "Build a Makerspace for Young People" course which is running again from 8th October!
-
Rik Cross replied to Catherine McArdle
Welcome Catherine! I agree it's much easier to learn these concepts when you have time to complete the challenges and join in the discussions. Hope you have fun.
-
Hi Solène, it depends on what you'd like to do. You could use an 'or' block to use 'yes' or 'yep' to proceed, or alternatively use a 'repeat until' to repeatedly ask the question until a yes or no answer is given.
-
You can use the 'ask' and 'answer' blocks for this. Here's an example of a project using these blocks:
-
Hi Kavitha, if you go to your project page and click 'Embed' you can see the options available. You can either share a link to your project, or embed the Scratch project within a webpage.
-
I'm not actually sure why you can't right-click?? Are you using online or offline Scratch? Are you on Windows or another operating system?
-
Rik Cross replied to Claire Barnes
Hi Harriet, as far as I know (using online Scratch at least) instruments do become out of sync after a while. I think that this is because Scratch is forced to use the browser for processing sound.
-
Rik Cross replied to Sue Tedesco
There are a couple of off-notes. I'm impressed that you managed to do this without hearing it!
-
Rik Cross replied to Sarah Hoodless
Another option is to get Scratch to do the calculations for you! For example, for a 8-sided shape you can turn 360/8 degrees each time, rather than having to know that it's actually 45 degrees.
-
Are you able to share your code so that we can help?
-
Rik Cross replied to Helen Cotton
I agree -- tinkering is a great way to learn how angles and shapes are related!
-
Rik Cross replied to Kristy Dolson
Hi Kristy, I agree that trust is very important. Educator confidence is also another factor -- being able to deal with a range of (often unexpected) situations, bugs and other problems to solve can be daunting!
-
Hi Mykhailo, that's a really interesting point. I think that 'make your own thing' and 'follow a project's steps' are two ends of a spectrum, and there's lots of room in the middle for peer learning. I love the idea of allowing learners to extend, adapt and personalise their projects as it really helps with motivation.
When learners are working on...
-
Rik Cross replied to Nicola Lund
Hi Nicola, you can edit the sprite by clicking 'Costumes'. You can then click the crosshair to set the centre of the costume, which will be the point around which the sprite rotates.
-
Rik Cross replied to Paula Stenson
Hi Paula. Yes, Scratch can be used without accounts -- either online or offline. If using Scratch online without accounts you can save projects by clicking File -> Download to your computer.
-
Rik Cross replied to john holden
Hi John, sorry to hear you're having issues. I'll pass on the feedback to the FutureLearn team and let you know if/when I get a response. Thanks.
-
You could also try the Scratch 3 preview: https://preview.scratch.mit.edu/
-
Rik Cross replied to Stuart Powell
Hi Stuart, it has always been the case that strict Python 3 mode can be accessed in Python 2 Trinkets by adding #!/bin/python3, as mentioned in the Code Club Python introductory notes: https://codeclubprojects.org/en-GB/resources/python-intro/ -- Sorry if that wasn't made particularly clear!
-
Hi Ana, add a comment below if you're having problems and someone will be able to help you :)
-
I think that the 'go to random position' block is a relatively new one.
-
Rik Cross replied to Anita Shaw
Hi Anita, did you manage to get the dinosaur's moving one after the other? A 'broadcast' block would help you!
-
Rik Cross replied to Paul Naylor
Hi Paul, I just clicked the sprite's costume and then dragged the pencil until it was facing to the right.
-
Rik Cross replied to Germaine Roberts
Hi Germaine, have you tried clicking 'Remix' in the top-right of the window before editing?
-
Hi Ntokozo, the instructions say:
"if there are eggs, buy a dozen"
...but it isn't clear what to buy a dozen of. Obviously common sense tells us that it means buy a dozen eggs, but the man has decided to buy a dozen pints of milk! Technically, I guess you could say he did follow (an interpretation of) the instructions!
-
Hi Michael, here are some instructions for using Scratch 2 on the Raspberry Pi: https://www.raspberrypi.org/learning/using-scratch2/
The latest Raspbian image also comes with Scratch 2 pre-installed:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian/ -
Rik Cross replied to Charles Landini
Hi Charles, you can just start from a blank Scratch project and follow the code in the video.
-
Rik Cross replied to Cheryl Sloggett
That's a great idea! Saying "well done" with a score of 0 does sound a little sarcastic!
-
Yes, that's a great idea!
-
Rik Cross replied to Margarita Jara
Hi, you can always use the same angle to turn left and right, like this: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/168038702/.
-
Rik Cross replied to Margarita Jara
Hi Margarita, you can achieve movement one ofter the other by using a 'wait' commands in a similar way to the Joke challenge last week.
-
Hi Kim, you can select backdrops by clicking the 'Choose backdrop from library' button underneath the stage.
-
Sure! I'm @CodeClubRik on Twitter... feel free to share a screenshot and I'll do my best to help.
-
Hi Chris. It looks as though the thumbnail updates itself automatically when you save your project. So press save once your drawing is complete and the thumbnail should be updated.
-
I agree Tracy! Making mistakes is really useful for seeing first hand the kinds of problems that learners will run into.
-
Hi Darrel, I was thinking about a single button that removed the last vote to be cast (across all choices). In this case, I think a list would be useful.
But you're right that the solution to the 'undo' challenge here doesn't require a list :)
Sorry for the confusion!
-
Rik Cross replied to Doriver Lilley
Thanks for sharing. I think to fix the problem, click on your 'Rocks' sprite and then click the 'costumes' tab. If you clock the crosshair to centre the costume, you can then click the middle of the rocks to set the centre. This should make the sprite move more smoothly.
Hope this helps!
-
Rik Cross replied to Elizabeth F
I love the animations and sounds in the background!
-
Rik Cross replied to Elizabeth F
This is a great project idea!
-
I think you're right Kate, you could add code to the app to only remove 1 from the number of votes if there is at least 1 vote to remove.
Removing the last vote to be cast is possible, but would require the use of lists, which is outside of the scope of this session. However, I'd be happy to share a solution if anyone's interested.
-
Rik Cross replied to Doriver Lilley
Are you able to share your project so that others can comment?
-
Rik Cross replied to Ben Weston
Hi Ben, you're quite right that there are 2 correct answers to that question. You can either move the 'pen up' block outside of the 'repeat' block, or alternatively move the 'pen down' block inside of the 'repeat' block.
-
Rik Cross replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]
I like your idea of moving from one fruit to the next! It seems as though the fruit does disappear when the bug gets to it -- but if that doesn't happen for you then just try clicking the green flag to start your bug moving.
-
Rik Cross replied to Darrel Towndrow
There's a guide to teacher accounts here: https://scratch.mit.edu/educators/faq
It's also possible to create multiple Scratch accounts with a single educator email address.
-
Hi, unfortunately that's not currently possible. You can open links in a new window by right-clicking on them.
-
You can press the 'space' key to reset the maze and the objects. Alternatively, you could add a 'reset' block to run initially when the green flag is clicked.
-
It is now possible to run Scratch 2 online on the Raspberry Pi using the Chromium browser. There is a guide available on our website at https://www.raspberrypi.org/learning/using-scratch2/
-
Rik Cross replied to Naomi Hancock
Hi Naomi. Take a look at this Code Club quiz project - the rocket sprite does pretty much the same thing :)
https://codeclubprojects.org/en-GB/space-mission/space-quiz/ -
Rik Cross replied to Antoniet Ama Aggrey
Hi Antoniet, you can think of the computer's memory as being made up of lots of these 'containers'.
-
Thanks for sharing your project. The reason for the issue you describe is because you will need to centre your bug sprite's costume.
To do this, click your bug sprite, and then click the 'costumes' tab. You should then see an icon (in the top-right of the editor) called 'set costume centre'. If you click this icon, you'll see a crosshair, which you should...
-
The Scratch team are currently collaborating with Google to create 'Scratch 3.0'. This new version will build on Google's 'Blockly' technology, and will therefore not make use of Flash.
-
Rik Cross replied to Rob Eaglesfield
Thanks Rob. I'd love to say they were all deliberate!
-
Rik Cross replied to Fiona Fisher
Hi Fiona. The backdrop is just one I created myself. Feel free to make use of it by downloading or remixing the project. You can also download the backdrop by:
- clicking the stage
- clicking the 'backdrops' tab
- right-click on the backdrop you want
- click 'save to local file' -
Rik Cross replied to Peter Blok
Thanks Peter!
-
Hi Antoniet, if you share your project then I will be able to see it and give you some feedback.
-
Rik Cross replied to Renaud Coustellier
Hi Renaud, yes -- you can use 'broadcast' blocks to send messages between sprites!
-
There's a wiki page on translating Scratch into other languages: https://wiki.scratch.mit.edu/wiki/Translating_Scratch_with_Transifex
-
Hi Anna, we'll be focusing on Scratch in this course, but a lot of the ideas are transferrable to Scratch Jr.
-
Hi Laurel, thanks for the interesting question. You are right that there are indeed some disadvantages to using Scratch.
Firstly, dragging and dropping blocks together to create large, complex projects can become difficult and time consuming. Also, it's more difficult to get Scratch to interact with external services and programs than other...
-
Rik Cross replied to Alison King
Hi Alison, your 'cheat' method shows that the algorithm depends on the level of abstraction (the detail required).
For example, an algorithm for pizza could be anything from picking up the phone and ordering pizza, right through to making your own dough, etc.
-
Hi Keith, well spotted! I guess this highlights that the algorithm could be further improved by asking how much milk you'd like added. I've updated the algorithm to only use 20ml milk.
