MicroWorlds is a program that uses the

Logo programming language Logo is an educational programming language, designed in 1967 by Wally Feurzeig, Seymour Papert, and Cynthia Solomon. ''Logo'' is not an acronym: the name was coined by Feurzeig while he was at Bolt, Beranek and Newman, and derives from the Gre ...

to teach language, mathematics, programming, and robotics concepts in primary and secondary education. It features an object in the shape of a

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...

that can be given commands to move around the screen drawing shapes, creating animations, and playing games. The program's use of Logo is part of a large set of dialects and implementations created by

Seymour Papert Seymour Aubrey Papert (; 29 February 1928 – 31 July 2016) was a South African-born American mathematician, computer scientist, and educator, who spent most of his career teaching and researching at MIT. He was one of the pioneers of artificia ...

aimed at triggering the development of abstract ideas by children through experimentation. MicroWorlds is developed by Logo Computer Systems Inc. (LCSI) and released for

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...

and Mac computers.

Release History

The precursors to MicroWorlds were the programs Apple Logo,

Atari Logo Atari Logo is ROM cartridge-based version of the Logo programming language for the Atari 8-bit family published by Atari, Inc. in 1983. It was developed by Logo Computer Systems, Inc. (LCSI) in Quebec, Canada. LCSI wrote Apple Logo, and the At ...

, and LogoWriter released by LCSI for the

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software en ...

, Atari 8-bit family, and

IBM Personal Computer The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible de facto standard. Released on August 12, 1981, it was created by a team ...

in the 1980s. The first version to bear the MicroWorlds name was released in 1993 for

DOS DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems. DOS may also refer to: Computing * Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel * Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicat ...

and Mac called MicroWorlds Project Builder. Two modules were released to accompany the software called "Math Links" and "Language Arts." MicroWorlds 2.0 was released in 1996 for Windows 95 and in 1998 for Mac. Modules for weather and plants were released in 1997, as well as an internet browser plugin to view projects in

Internet Explorer Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Internet Explorer, commonly abbreviated IE or MSIE) is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft which was used in the Windows line of operating systems ( ...

and

Netscape Navigator Netscape Navigator was a web browser, and the original browser of the Netscape line, from versions 1 to 4.08, and 9.x. It was the flagship product of the Netscape Communications Corp and was the dominant web browser in terms of usage share in ...

without the full software installed. Spanish and Portuguese editions were released under the name MicroMundos. MicroWorlds Pro, an advanced version intended for high school students, was released in 1999 for Windows 95/98/NT and in 2000 for Mac. MicroWorlds EX, the current iteration of the software, was released in 2003 for Windows 98 and up (currently supported for Windows 7 and up), and in 2004 for Mac OS X. A “Robotics edition” was released for both platforms that worked with Lego RCX programmable bricks and the Handy Cricket microcontroller system. An "Exploring Math" module intended for Grades 4-7 was released in 2005 and a "Computer Science" module released in 2013. The program has been made available in French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Portuguese, Italian, Armenian, and Greek. MicroWorlds EX will not work with macOS 10.15 or higher due to requiring 32-bit support. MicroWorlds JR, a derivative product teaching coding to young children who cannot read, was released in 2004 for Windows XP and 2005 for Mac OS X.

Features

MicroWorlds relies on Logo, a computer programming language based on words and syntax that are intended to be easy to learn and remember. The software is able to execute multiple tasks independently, can import pictures, and create multimedia projects like games and simulations. Users write code in a dialect of the Logo programming language to move a customizable cursor (initially in the shape of a turtle), draw shapes, or to make dialog boxes appear. The user may write code in one of two areas of the program, using the program's "command module" to execute short commands immediately or the "procedure page" for more complex sets of instructions that can be stored and referenced at any time.

Reception

MicroWorlds is used as the main component of the curriculum used by OpenWorld Learning, an educational non-profit based in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, that as of 2016 operated 11 elementary sites and three middle school sites in the Denver area. The organization provides a free after-school program to students interested in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education.

References

External links

*, LCSI {{Lisp programming language Logo programming language family Educational software

Release History

Features

Reception

References

Further reading

External links