What would happen if everyone in the US learned how to program computers at the same time they learned to read and write English? Our projects are motivated by a desire to improve all children's, especially disadvantaged children's, overall aptitude and attitude towards science, math, and technology.

Thanks to Moore's Law, teaching programming as active social engagement is now possible. If you're a kid, showing and telling things to the smart pets that you share with your friends is very different from writing Java, Python or Logo. It is much more powerful, because it builds on innate social and perceptual skills.

It is programming as a first language.

Our goals are simple.

We want to improve learning by contextualizing concepts and problem solving inside structures which will give a base for making abstract problems "real." We want to facilitate learning through play systems which invoke peer to peer interaction, sharing, and instant feedback. We are working to change the perception of role and place of science, math, and technology in order to promote associated fields of work. Most of all, we are working to increase comfort level with technology by making programming a part of everyday life.

Recent educational surveys show that children still see computer programmers in stereotypical terms: the image of computer programming in contemporary culture is troubling. Media portrays images of loner, "geeky guys" immobile in front of their machines. We have images in our heads that computer scientists work alone, churning out nonsensical terms, reducing the world into equations... But we know that computer science is a creative, expressive, team-oriented and very often fun and challenging field.

What is really needed is social change: new play systems, new interaction models, expressive programming, and new role models in the field. We are designing systems which strengthen each child's role in an ever-growing digital environment.

We embrace the responsiblility of the scientist/designer to make the world a better place.