choose the Walk block and snap a green block bearing a Play button below it. When the Play button is pressed, Awbie takes one step on-screen.
Other function blocks and strategies make it possible to program a more complex series of movements.
For example, a child can snap together a series of blocks, such as Walk, Jump, Hand, and Play. When Awbie executes the three-part maneuver, the youngster gains some experience with constructing commands in a sequence.
To make an action such as Walk repeat, numbers can be snapped onto that verb block. For example, attaching the number three makes Awbie walk three steps instead of one. Sharma says this teaches a child to code efficiently, by using a number symbol to repeat the action instead of stacking three Walk blocks in a row.
Other blocks allow more experienced children to repeat or “loop” an entire sequence of commands, and to give conditional commands. For example, Awbie can be told to walk three steps to the right unless there’s a barrier, in which case the monster should step down or up.
I asked Sharma whether Osmo Coding ever made it possible for its young users to see the actual coding language activated to move Awbie when the iPad “sees” particular blocks such as Walk and Play. I theorized that somewhat older kids might be interested to learn on-screen what real code looks like. And with a child’s innate genius for pattern recognition, they might even notice how the code changes as the commands vary, I speculated.
Sharma says this is interesting feedback, but at this point there are no plans for such a feature. “Our goal is to make the games engaging and fun,” he says.
Kids who are ready to tackle real code should be encouraged to move on to products such as Scratch, where they can learn to type in commands and expand their understanding of programming, Sharma says.
Meanwhile, Osmo is responding to parents’ requests for ways to customize the Osmo Coding game environment. The startup will create more characters, and offer more commands to elaborate on the user’s coding power, Sharma says.
“Now, we’re going to make that richer,” Sharma says.
