OctoStudio is a free creative coding app for youth on Android and iOS, designed so that young people can create stories, games, and art, using code blocks, sounds, and their own photos and drawings.

OctoStudio was designed in collaboration with global community partners, is available in 20+ languages, and includes assets designed to support a sense of belonging for young users with diverse identities and cultural backgrounds.

The app aims to work well for families with limited access to computers and the internet, with free, offline creating on mobile phones and tablets.

You can download the app for free at octostudio.org.

My work focused on:

• leading product development of new learning, inspiration, and support features

• UX research for the iterative design and launch of the product

• building out systems of user support on the project website

Roles: Product Manager, Resources and User Research, 2023; Product Manager, Learning Resources and Inspiration, 2022

Pictured: onboarding experience and cues; idea cards with code blocks to try; example projects and dynamic cues-to-play

Learning Creative Learning (LCL) is an online course and ongoing global community organized by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. LCL connects educators and learners who are interested in engaging with creative learning experiences, that involve interest-based projects, peer collaboration, and playful experimentation.

The community is supported by a global network of facilitators, who engage participants in local, global, in-person, and online meetups in different languages.

Check out the course site for resources and materials, and to sign up for updates about future opportunities.

This project was highlighted as an impactful and scalable innovation in education by the HundrED Foundation, in partnership with the LEGO Foundation, with the HundrED Spotlight on Creativity in 2020.

Role: Co-lead, 2017-2023 

Pictured: LCL website; opt-in participant course map during a round; multilingual LCL chat course meeting; LCL forum during a round

Opened in February 2019, the McCormick Studio is a creative space for the 250+ residents of McCormick Hall and their student organizations.

This project was a collaboration with Emma Johnson (Area Director of McCormick), and the students and staff of McCormick Hall, with support from the MindHandHeart Innovation Fund, the MIT Division of Student Life, and the MIT Program in Women’s & Gender Studies.

Role: Co-led grant proposal, space design, and project launch, 2018-2019

Scratch in Practice (SiP) shares ideas, strategies, and resources from the Scratch Team, Lifelong Kindergarten group, and educators around the world. SiP aims to help more educators integrate Scratch into their practice, through a creative learning approach.

Scratch in Practice was created by the Scratch Team and the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab.

Check out the site here!

Role: Project manager for website & resource development, initiative launch, and modules, 2018-2019

Computational tinkering is a playful approach to supporting making and tinkering with digital and physical materials.

While working with the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab, and other collaborators such as the Tinkering Studio at the Exploratorium, the LEGO Foundation, and Reggio Emilia, and artists, we've designed workshops, materials, spaces, and facilitation approaches to support young tinkerers in creating with code, electronics, visual art, and craft materials.

Role: Tinkering in the Digital Age residency in Reggio Emilia, Italy, April 2018; collaborator & tinkerer, 2016 onward

Pictured: experiments with LightPlay, scribbling machines, Makey Makey, circuits & paper-craft, with Carmelo Presicce, members of Lifelong Kindergarten, and collaborators of Tinkering in the Digital Age

The 2018 conference, “Scratch: The Next Generation” (MIT Media Lab, July 2018) brought together educators, technologists, and other Scratch community members from 36 countries.

Participants engaged in hands-on workshops, community discussions, and interactive demonstrations of connections between Scratch and the physical world. The conference closed with an all-hands community meeting and a collective kazoo piece.

Role: Co-lead, event planning and programming

Images 1-4 by Lily Gabaree, image 5 by Saskia Leggett (2018).

The Projection Atelier was installed at the Hales Gallery Project Room in New York City in November 2018. The project included a media arts and Scratch programming workshop with youth from the Grand St. Settlement Computer Clubhouse, and an experimental, public space for art-making, coding, and reflection.

In collaboration with Sean Hickey (MIT Media Lab), as part of the Notes from a Permeable Husk series with Juan Hurtado Salazar.

For Scratch Day 2019 at the MIT Media Lab, we invited participants to create their own hand-drawn characters and then program them in a projected digital universe.

In collaboration with Sean Hickey and Eric Schilling.

I enjoy making things of varied scales with wood, fabric, and digital fabrication tools, and supporting others with their projects. See also: Art!