<s>
AgentSheets	B-Language
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
modern	O
block-based	O
programming	O
language	O
for	O
kids	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
idea	O
of	O
AgentSheets	B-Language
was	O
to	O
overcome	O
syntactic	O
challenges	O
found	O
in	O
common	O
text-based	O
programming	O
languages	O
by	O
using	O
drag-and-drop	O
mechanisms	O
conceptualizing	O
commands	O
such	O
as	O
conditions	O
and	O
actions	O
as	O
editable	O
blocks	O
that	O
could	O
be	O
composed	O
into	O
programs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ideas	O
such	O
as	O
this	O
are	O
used	O
in	O
various	O
other	O
programming	O
languages	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Scratch	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
AgentSheets	B-Language
is	O
used	O
to	O
create	O
media-rich	O
projects	O
such	O
as	O
games	O
and	O
interactive	O
simulations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
main	O
building	O
blocks	O
of	O
AgentSheets	B-Language
are	O
agents	O
which	O
are	O
interactive	O
objects	O
programmed	O
through	O
rules	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AgentSheets	B-Language
was	O
initially	O
considered	O
as	O
a	O
Cyberlearning	O
tool	O
to	O
teach	O
students	O
programming	O
and	O
related	O
information	O
technology	O
skills	O
through	O
game	O
design	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AgentSheets	B-Language
is	O
supported	O
by	O
a	O
middle	O
and	O
high	O
school	O
curriculum	O
called	O
Scalable	O
Game	O
Design	O
aligned	O
with	O
the	O
ISTE	O
National	O
Educational	B-Language
Technology	O
Standards	O
(	O
NETS	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Previous	O
research	O
has	O
already	O
found	O
that	O
game	O
design	O
with	O
AgentSheets	B-Language
is	O
universally	O
accessible	O
across	O
gender	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
ethnicity	O
and	O
is	O
not	O
limited	O
to	O
students	O
interested	O
in	O
playing	O
video	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
results	O
of	O
the	O
NSF	O
ITEST	O
program	O
supported	O
research	O
investigating	O
motivational	O
and	O
educational	B-Language
aspects	O
of	O
introducing	O
computer	O
science	O
at	O
the	O
middle	O
school	O
level	O
are	O
extremely	O
positive	O
in	O
terms	O
of	O
motivational	O
levels	O
,	O
number	O
of	O
participants	O
and	O
participation	O
of	O
women	O
and	O
underrepresented	O
communities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
built-in	O
drag-and-drop	O
language	O
is	O
accessible	O
enough	O
that	O
students	O
without	O
programming	O
background	O
can	O
make	O
their	O
own	O
simple	O
Frogger-like	O
game	O
,	O
and	O
publish	O
it	O
on	O
the	O
Web	O
,	O
in	O
their	O
first	O
session	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
,	O
AgentSheets	B-Language
is	O
powerful	O
enough	O
to	O
make	O
sophisticated	O
The	O
Sims-like	O
games	O
with	O
artificial	B-Application
intelligence	I-Application
.	I-Application
</s>
<s>
To	O
transition	O
from	O
visual	O
programming	O
to	O
more	O
traditional	O
programming	O
students	O
can	O
render	O
their	O
games	O
into	O
Java	B-Language
source	I-Language
code	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
ability	O
to	O
support	O
game	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
computational	O
science	O
applications	O
with	O
the	O
inclusion	O
of	O
scientific	O
visualizations	O
makes	O
AgentSheets	B-Language
a	O
unique	O
computational	O
thinking	O
tool	O
that	O
is	O
used	O
computer	O
science	O
and	O
STEM	O
education	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AgentSheets	B-Language
is	O
used	O
in	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
contexts	O
worldwide	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Middle	O
school	O
computer	O
clubs	O
students	O
build	O
computer	O
games	O
ranging	O
from	O
simple	O
arcade	O
classic	O
such	O
as	O
Frogger	B-Application
to	O
sophisticated	O
AI-based	B-Application
games	O
such	O
as	O
The	B-Application
Sims	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
prototype	O
of	O
AgentSheets	B-Language
ran	O
in	O
1989	O
at	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Colorado	O
,	O
NCAR	O
,	O
Connection	B-Device
Machine	I-Device
2	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	B-Device
Connection	I-Device
Machine	I-Device
is	O
a	O
highly	O
parallel	O
computer	O
with	O
up	O
to	O
65,536	O
CPUs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Realizing	O
how	O
hard	O
it	O
was	O
to	O
program	O
the	B-Device
Connection	I-Device
Machine	I-Device
the	O
insight	O
that	O
"	O
CPU	O
cycles	O
will	O
always	O
be	O
ultimately	O
cheaper	O
than	O
cognitive	O
cycles	O
"	O
led	O
to	O
the	O
exploration	O
of	O
several	O
new	O
programming	O
paradigms	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
rules	O
can	O
be	O
created	O
by	O
programming	B-Application
by	I-Application
example	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Agent-Based	O
Graphical	O
Rewrite	O
Rules	O
were	O
later	O
also	O
used	O
in	O
the	O
KidSim/Cocoa/Creator	B-Language
kid	O
programming	O
tool	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Semantical	O
Rewrite	O
Rules	O
:	O
(	O
1994	O
)	O
It	O
became	O
clear	O
that	O
Agent-Based	O
Graphical	O
Rewrite	O
Rules	O
used	O
in	O
AgentSheets91	O
and	O
KidSim/Cocoa/Creator	B-Language
were	O
not	O
powerful	O
enough	O
for	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
applications	O
that	O
need	O
more	O
general	O
patterns	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Tactile	O
Programming	O
:	O
(	O
1996	O
)	O
AgentSheets	B-Language
becomes	O
the	O
world	O
's	O
first	O
drag	O
and	O
drop	O
educational	B-Language
programming	O
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Visual	B-Language
AgenTalk	I-Language
(	O
VAT	O
)	O
,	O
a	O
rule-based	O
visual	O
programming	O
language	O
,	O
users	O
create	O
rules	O
by	O
dragging	O
and	O
dropping	O
conditions	O
and	O
actions	O
from	O
palettes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
tactile	O
aspect	O
of	O
Visual	B-Language
AgenTalk	I-Language
allows	O
users	O
to	O
perceive	O
through	O
drag	O
and	O
drop	O
what	O
programs	O
do	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Similar	O
drag	O
and	O
drop	O
programming	O
can	O
later	O
be	O
found	O
in	O
the	O
Etoys	B-Application
language	O
(	O
part	O
of	O
Squeak	B-Operating_System
)	O
,	O
in	O
Alice	B-Application
and	O
in	O
Scratch	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
AgentSheets	B-Language
Inc.	O
:	O
(	O
1996	O
)	O
With	O
the	O
support	O
of	O
the	O
National	O
Science	O
Foundation	O
AgentSheets	B-Language
has	O
become	O
a	O
commercial	O
product	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
programming	O
model	O
has	O
been	O
extended	O
,	O
more	O
interaction	O
modalities	O
have	O
been	O
added	O
(	O
e.g.	O
,	O
speech	O
recognition	O
(	O
Mac	O
)	O
)	O
,	O
scientific	O
visualization	O
has	O
been	O
refined	O
(	O
e.g.	O
,	O
3D	O
real	O
time	O
plotting	O
(	O
Mac	O
)	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
AgentSheets	B-Language
has	O
been	O
localized	O
(	O
e.g.	O
,	O
Japanese	O
and	O
Greek	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Scalable	O
Game	O
Design	O
:	O
(	O
2008	O
)	O
A	O
game	O
design	O
based	O
free	O
curriculum	O
covering	O
computational	O
thinking	O
ideas	O
from	O
elementary	O
to	O
graduate	O
school	O
based	O
on	O
AgentSheets	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Conversational	O
Programming	O
:	O
(	O
2010	O
)	O
AgentSheets	B-Language
3	O
is	O
the	O
world	O
first	O
programming	O
environment	O
supporting	O
computational	O
thinking	O
by	O
providing	O
information	O
about	O
the	O
meaning	O
of	O
the	O
program	O
.	O
</s>
