Sense is an educational programming environment created by The Open University (OU) in the United Kingdom.[3][4] It uses a drag-and-drop programming environment designed to teach students the fundamentals of computer programming, using different shape and colour "blocks" selected from a palette of available commands, meaning that the student needs no prior experience of programming nor need to learn a syntax. It is based on the Scratch programming language developed by the MIT Media Lab,[5] and uses .sb files[6] like Scratch but the two pieces of software cannot use each other's files.[7]

Sense
Paradigmobject-oriented, educational, event-driven
Designed byThe Open University
DeveloperThe Open University
First appeared2008; 16 years ago (2008)
Stable release
Build 136
Typing disciplineDynamic
Implementation languageSqueak
OSWindows, OS X, Linux[1]
Filename extensions.sb[2]
Websitesense.open.ac.uk
Major implementations
Scratch
Influenced by
Scratch

The Sense programming environment is designed to work in conjunction with the SenseBoard, a specialised piece of hardware which connects to a user's computer via a USB connection.[8][9] The SenseBoard has different input types such as sensors for infrared, light, sound (microphone), and temperature (thermometer), and outputs such as a motor and light emitting diodes (LEDs).[10]

Sense and the SenseBoard are primarily used as part of the OU's My Digital Life (TU100) module,[11] but is also used to a lesser degree on other modules. Sense was trialed in London schools in late 2012.

References

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  1. ^ "OLCreate: TU100_1.0 Sense installation".
  2. ^ "OLCreate: TU100_1.0 FAQ pages".
  3. ^ Flaherty, Adam (14 June 2011). "Hands-on Learning with The SenseBoard Ubiquitous Computing Device". MAKE Blog. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  4. ^ Geere, Duncan (14 June 2011). "Technology Open University offers up hardware to coding students". Wired.co.uk. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  5. ^ "Open University offers up hardware to coding students (Wired UK)". www.wired.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 June 2011.
  6. ^ "OLCreate: TU100_1.0 FAQ pages".
  7. ^ "OLCreate: TU100_1.0 FAQ pages".
  8. ^ "Open University offers up hardware to coding students (Wired UK)". www.wired.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 June 2011.
  9. ^ "OLCreate: TU100_1.0 Sense installation".
  10. ^ "OLCreate: TU100_1.0 Sense installation".
  11. ^ "The Open University | Courses and Qualifications".
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Official website