and I suddenly realized

我忽然意識到

that the next day was Mother's Day,

隔天就是母親節

and I hadn't gotten anything for my mom,

而我沒有準備任何禮物給我媽

so I started thinking about

所以我開始思考

what should I get my mom for Mother's Day?

我要送他什麼當作母親節禮物呢?

I thought, why don't I make her

我想到何不為她做一張

an interactive Mother's Day card

互動式的母親節賀卡呢?

using the Scratch software that I'd been developing

使用我開發的塗鴉軟體 Scratch 製作

with my research group at the MIT Media Lab?

我的研究小組在麻省理工大學 (MIT) 媒體實驗室所研發的軟體

We developed it so that people could easily create

我們製作了這個軟體，使人們能夠輕鬆創作

their own interactive stories and games and animations,

他們自己的互動故事、遊戲或者是動畫

and then share their creations with one another.

並且把這些創作與別人分享

So I thought, this would be an opportunity to use Scratch

然後我想 這或許是一個好機會

to make an interactive card for my mom.

使用這個塗鴉軟體 Scratch 作一張互動賀卡給我媽媽

Before making my own Mother's Day card,

在做我的母親卡之前

I thought I would take a look

我想到我可以先逛看看

at the Scratch website.

這個塗鴉網站 ( Scratch )

So over the last several years, kids around the world

幾年前開始，世界各地

ages 8 and up, have shared their projects,

8歲或更大的孩子們已經開始 透過這個網站分享他們的作品

and I thought, I wonder if, of those three million projects,

所以我想 在這300萬件作品裏

whether anyone else has thought to put up Mother's Day cards.

會不會有人想到要放上 他們作的母親節賀卡呢

So in the search box I typed in

所以我就在搜尋欄中鍵入

"Mother's Day,"

「母親節」

and I was surprised and delighted to see a list

之後我驚訝又高興地看到

of dozens and dozens of Mother's Day cards

很多很多的母親節賀卡

that showed up on the Scratch website,

在 Scratch 上展示

many of them just in the past 24 hours

許多賀卡是在24小時內上載的

by procrastinators just like myself.

像我一樣愛拖延的人

So I started taking a look at them. (Music)

所以我開始瀏覽這些作品（音樂）

I saw one of them that featured a kitten

我看到一張以小貓

and her mom and wishing her mom a happy Mother's Day.

和她的媽媽為主角的卡片，卡片中的 小貓祝媽媽母親節快樂

And the creator very considerately

作者非常貼心地

offered a replay for her mom.

為他媽媽做了一個重播按鈕

Another one was an interactive project where,

另一個是一件互動作品

when you moved the mouse over the letters of "Happy Mom Day,"

當你把鼠標移動到這些"母親節快樂"的字母上面時

it reveals a special happy Mother's Day slogan.

它會出現一句特別的母親節祝詞

(Music) In this one, the creator told a narrative

(音樂) 而在這個作品裏，創作者講述了

about how she had Googled to find out

她是如何用 Google (谷歌搜尋引擎) 來找出

when Mother's Day was happening.

到底哪一天是母親節

(Typing) And then once she found out when Mother's Day was happening,

(打字聲) 而當她發現當天就是母親節時

she delivered a special Mother's Day greeting

她立即送出了一份特別的母親節祝福

of how much she loved her mom.

來表達她有多愛她的媽媽

So I really enjoyed looking at these projects

我真的很喜歡瀏覽這些作品

and interacting with these projects.

並且與這些作品互動

In fact, I liked it so much that, instead of making my own project,

事實上，由於太喜歡這些作品， 讓我打消了親手製作賀卡的念頭

I sent my mom links to about a dozen of these projects. (Laughter)

改為把十多個作品的連結發送給我媽媽 （笑聲）

And actually, she reacted exactly the way that I hoped that she would.

而實際上，她的反應就正如我希望的一樣

She wrote back to me and she said,

她回覆我並說

"I'm so proud to have a son that created the software

「我非常以有這樣的兒子為傲， 因為他能夠打造出一個軟體，使孩子們能夠

that allowed these kids to make Mother's Day cards for their mothers."

製作母親節賀卡送給他們的媽媽們。」

So my mom was happy, and that made me happy,

所以我媽媽很高興，這令我也很高興

but actually I was even happier for another reason.

但事實上我有一個更值得高興的理由

I was happy because these kids were using Scratch

我高興是因為這些孩子能夠按照我們當初設計 Scratch

just in the way that we had hoped that they would.

的用法來使用它

As they created their interactive Mother's Day cards,

當他們製作互動母親節賀卡的時候

you could see that they were really

你可以看到他們真的

becoming fluent with new technologies.

能夠更熟練地掌握新科技

What do I mean by fluent?

我說的熟練是指甚麽呢?

I mean that they were able to start expressing themselves

我是指他們已經可以開始表達他們自己

and to start expressing their ideas.

並且開始表達他們的想法

When you become fluent with language,

當你開始熟練於一個語言時

it means you can write an entry in your journal

這意味著你可以在你的日誌上寫一個條目

or tell a joke to someone or write a letter to a friend.

告訴別人一個幽默的笑話 或者給朋友寫一封信

And it's similar with new technologies.

使用新科技也是很類似這樣

By writing, be creating these interactive Mother's Day cards,

書寫或創作這些互動的母親節賀卡時

these kids were showing that they were really fluent

這些孩子顯示出

with new technologies.

他們有多熟練於這些新科技的使用

Now maybe you won't be so surprised by this,

你或許對這件事情並不感到驚訝

because a lot of times people feel that

因為大多數時候人們都認為

young people today can do all sorts of things with technology.

現代的年輕人熟於使用科技 做各式各樣的事情

I mean, all of us have heard young people referred to as "digital natives."

我的意思是，我們都聽過年輕人被稱為 「數碼時代的原住民」

But actually I'm sort of skeptical about this term.

某種程度上 我認為這個用詞是有點問題的

I'm not so sure we should be thinking of young people as digital natives.

我不太肯定我們應該把年輕人看作 數碼時代的原住民

When you really look at it, how is it that young people

當你真的看看這個問題，年輕人是怎樣

spend most of their time using new technologies?

花大部分的時間使用新科技呢?

You often see them in situations like this,

你經常看到的情況會是像這樣

or like this,

或是像這樣的

and there's no doubt that young people

可以肯定的是 年輕人

are very comfortable and familiar browsing

可以很輕鬆自在的瀏覽網頁

and chatting and texting and gaming.

上網聊天、互通短訊和打電動

But that doesn't really make you fluent.

但這些並不會真的使你熟練

So young people today have lots of experience

今天的年輕人有許多與新科技互動的經驗

and lots of familiarity with interacting with new technologies,

亦對如何與科技互動相當了解

but a lot less so of creating with new technologies

但使用新科技來創作的人就少得多了

and expressing themselves with new technologies.

也不擅長透過新科技來表達自己的想法

It's almost as if they can read

這就好像在新科技的領域上， 他們雖然懂得閱讀

but not write with new technologies.

卻不懂書寫一樣

And I'm really interested in seeing, how can we help young people become fluent

我真的對於怎樣能夠令年輕人對科技更熟練

so they can write with new technologies?

使他們能夠使用新科技創作 很感興趣

And that really means that they need to be able to

這表示他們需要能夠

write their own computer programs, or code.

寫自己的電腦軟體，或是程式

So, increasingly, people are starting to recognize

很有趣的是人們逐漸地開始發現

the importance of learning to code.

學習編寫電腦程式的重要性

You know, in recent years, there have been

你知道最近幾年，這裏有

hundreds of new organizations and websites

數以百計的新機構和網站

that are helping young people learn to code.

幫助年輕人學習編寫電腦程式

You look online, you'll see places like Codecademy

你看網上有像「編程學院」 Codecademy 這類的地方

and events like CoderDojo

有像CoderDojo 一樣的組織 (註: 該組織在世界各地幫助年輕人學習如何寫程式)

and sites like Girls Who Code,

又有像「女生愛編程」 Girls Who Code

or Black Girls Code.

又或者「黑女編程」 Black Girls Code 這一類的網站

It seems that everybody is getting into the act.

看起來每個人都開始在參與這件事

You know, just at the beginning of this year,

你知道，就在年初

at the turn of the new year,

進入新的一年之際

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg

紐約市長米高．彭博

made a New Year's resolution that he was going to learn

為他自己定下的新年目標， 就是要在

to code in 2012.

2012 年中學會編寫電腦程式

A few months later, the country of Estonia decided that

數個月後， 愛沙尼亞這個國家決定

all of its first graders should learn to code.

該國的一年級學生全部都要學習編寫電腦程式

And that triggered a debate in the U.K.

這在英國激發了一場辯論

about whether all the children there should learn to code.

探討是否需要得讓全部孩子都必須 學習編寫電腦程式

Now, for some of you, when you hear about this,

你們當中有些人在聽到這個提議時

it might seem sort of strange about everybody learning to code.

或許會感到有點奇怪， 為什麼每一個人都要學寫程式

When many people think of coding, they think of it

當大部人想到編程，他們想到的是

as something that only a very narrow sub-community

一個很狹隘定義的「亞社群」

of people are going to be doing,

是專屬於某些人的活動

and they think of coding looking like this.

他們覺得程式是長這樣的

And in fact, if this is what coding is like,

事實上，假如程式真的長這樣

it will only be a narrow sub-community of people

當然只有很少一群人會碰觸

with special mathematical skills and technological background

就是那些擁有特別的數學技能，以及科技背景的人

that can code.

才會做的事

But coding doesn't have to be like this.

但編寫程式寫毋須是這樣的

Let me show you about what it's like to code in Scratch.

讓我向你介紹在塗鴉軟件Scratch 中編寫程式會是怎樣吧

So in Scratch, to code, you just snap blocks together.

使用 Scratch 寫程式的話， 你就像是把積木接在一起

In this case, you take a move block,

在這個情況下，你移動一個積木

snap it into a stack,

把它們堆在一起

and the stacks of blocks control the behaviors

那堆積木就會控制

of the different characters in your game or your story,

你的遊戲或故事中不同角色的行為

in this case controlling the big fish.

這個例子中，就是要控制那條大魚

After you've created your program, you can click on "share,"

當你創造了你的程式後，你可以點擊「分享」

and then share your project with other people,

接著你就可以把你的程式與其他人分享

so that they can use the project

別人可以用你的程式

and start working on the project as well.

並且也可以調整成他們自己的

So, of course, making a fish game isn't the only thing

當然，創作一個關於魚的遊戲並不是

you can do with Scratch.

Scratch 唯一能夠做的事

Of the millions of projects on the Scratch website,

在Scratch 網站上數以百萬的作品當中

there's everything from animated stories

可以說是包羅萬有， 從動畫故事

to school science projects

到學校科學習作

to anime soap operas

到動漫肥皂劇

to virtual construction kits

到虛擬建築工具箱

to recreations of classic video games

到二次創作的經典電玩遊戲

to political opinion polls

到政治傾向調查

to trigonometry tutorials

到三角幾何學教室

to interactive artwork, and, yes,

到互動藝術作品。對! 還有

interactive Mother's Day cards.

互動母親節賀卡

So I think there's so many different ways

所以我認為這裏有很多的途徑

that people can express themselves using this,

讓人們可以從中表達自己

to be able to take their ideas and share their ideas with the world.

跟全世界分享他們的靈感

And it doesn't just stay on the screen.

而且，這不單單局限在電腦螢幕上

You can also code to interact with the physical world around you.

你可以利用編寫程式，去和周遭的現實世界互動

Here's an example from Hong Kong,

這裏有一個來自香港的例子

where some kids made a game

這些孩子製作了一個遊戲

and then built their own physical interface device

他們打造了一個實體介面裝置

and had a light sensor, so the light sensor

它有一個光感應器，那個感應器

detects the hole in the board,

會感應木板上的那個洞

so as they move the physical saw,

所以在他們移動那把實體鋸子時

the light sensor detects the hole

那個光感應器可以感應到那個洞

and controls the virtual saw on the screen

進而能控制螢幕上的虛擬鋸子

and saws down the tree.

去鋸掉那棵大樹

We're going to continue to look at new ways

我們一直在尋找新的方法

of bringing together the physical world and the virtual world

去連繫現實與虛擬世界

and connecting to the world around us.

並且連接我們周遭的世界

This is an example from a new version of Scratch

這是一個來自新版本Scratch 的例子

that we'll be releasing in the next few months,

將會在數個月之後發佈

and we're looking again to be able

我們再次嘗試

to push you in new directions.

來帶給你新的想法

Here's an example.

這是一個例子

It uses the webcam.

它用上了網絡攝影機

And as I move my hand, I can pop the balloons

當我移動我的手，我可以拍破那些氣球

or I can move the bug.

又或者移動那蟲子

So it's a little bit like Microsoft Kinect,

這有點像微軟的 Kinect 裝置

where you interact with gestures in the world.

讓你可以用身體語言跟世界互動

But instead of just playing someone else's game,

但與其參與其他人的遊戲

you get to create the games,

你可以創作你自己的遊戲

and if you see someone else's game,

如果你看到別人的遊戲

you can just say "see inside,"

你可以說 「讓我們來看看裏面長甚麼樣」

and you can look at the stacks of blocks that control it.

你可以看到那堆控制遊戲的積木

So there's a new block that says how much video motion there is,

這堆新的積木就是顯示攝影機裡有多少動作

and then, if there's so much video motion,

如果有大幅的動作

it will then tell the balloon to pop.

它就會指示那些氣球爆開

The same way that this uses the camera

正如你可以用攝影機

to get information into Scratch,

去輸入資料到 Scratch 一樣

you can also use the microphone.

你亦可以利用麥克風

Here's an example of a project using the microphone.

這是一個利用麥克風創作的例子

So I'm going to let all of you control this game

我將會讓你們所有人一起去控制這個遊戲

using your voices.

用你們的聲音

(Crickets chirping) (Shouts) (Chomping)

(蟋蟀叫聲) (呼叫) (咀嚼聲)

(Laughter)

(笑聲)(呼叫)(蝙蝠跌落聲)

(Applause)

(掌聲)

As kids are creating projects like this,

當孩子們在創作這樣的作品時

they're learning to code,

他們在學習編寫電腦程式

but even more importantly, they're coding to learn.

但更重要的是， 他們從編寫電腦程式中學習

Because as they learn to code,

因為從學習編寫電腦程式的過程中

it enables them to learn many other things,

他們可以學到更多其他的東西

opens up many new opportunities for learning.

開啟不同學習機會的大門

Again, it's useful to make an analogy to reading and writing.

再一次，閱讀與寫作的比喻在這裏很有用

When you learn to read and write, it opens up

當你學習閱讀及寫作時， 它們為你引進了

opportunities for you to learn so many other things.

學習更多其他事物的機會

When you learn to read, you can then read to learn.

當你學習閱讀時， 你也同時是經由閱讀去學習到其他事情

And it's the same thing with coding.

編寫電腦程式也是一樣

If you learn to code, you can code to learn.

當你學習編寫電腦程式時， 你也同時藉由程式學習到其他事情

Now some of the things you can learn are sort of obvious.

有一些你可以學到的事情是顯而易見的

You learn more about how computers work.

你可以知道電腦是怎樣運作的

But that's just where it starts.

但這只是個開端

When you learn to code, it opens up for you to learn

當你學習編寫電腦程式時， 它為你開啟學習

many other things.

很多其他東西的大門

Let me show you an example.

讓我為你展示一個例子吧

Here's another project,

這裏有另一個作品

and I saw this when I was visiting

我第一次看到它 是當我在參觀

one of the computer clubhouses.

某一個電腦俱樂部的時候

These are after-school learning centers that we helped start

這是一些我們協助成立的課餘學習中心

that help young people from low-income communities

幫助來自低收入家庭的孩子

learn to express themselves creatively with new technologies.

學習如何利用新科技 有創意地表達自己

And when I went to one of the clubhouses a couple years ago,

當我在幾年前到其中一個這樣的俱樂部時

I saw a 13-year-old boy who was using our Scratch software

我看到一個13歲的男孩用我們的 Scratch

to create a game somewhat like this one,

去創作一個類似這樣的遊戲

and he was very happy with his game and proud of his game,

他非常高興，並且對自己的遊戲感到自豪

but also he wanted to do more.

但他還想做更多

He wanted to keep score.

他希望能夠計分

So this was a game where the big fish eats the little fish,

這是一個大魚吃掉小魚的遊戲

but he wanted to keep score, so that each time

但他希望計分， 所以每當

the big fish eats the little fish,

大魚吃掉小魚的時候

the score would go up and it would keep track,

分數便會上升， 而分數也被記錄下來。

and he didn't know how to do that.

但他不懂得怎樣做

So I showed him.

所以我向他示範可以怎樣做

In Scratch, you can create something called a variable.

在Scratch 裏面， 你可以建立一個物件叫做「變量」

I'll call it score.

我將它取名為「分數」

And that creates some new blocks for you,

接著它會為你建立幾個積木

and also creates a little scoreboard that keeps track of the score,

同時建立一個小小的計分板，幫助你計分

so each time I click on "change score," it increments the score.

每次我點擊「改變分數」時，分數就會增加

So I showed this to the clubhouse member --

所以我向這個會員展示這個方法 --

let's call him Victor -- and Victor,

暫且就叫他做維克多吧 --

when he saw that this block would let him increment the score,

當維克多見到這些積木能夠幫他增加分數時

he knew exactly what to do.

他當下就知道要做些甚麼了