Learning to Program
Several important programming languages developed from efforts to make programming easier to learn.
Logo: Lisp-like, interpreted language + turtle graphics
BASIC -- developed by Kurtz and Kemeny at Dartmouth Univ. to help undergraduates learn about computing.
Karel the Robot (a pre-Pascal teaching tool by Richard Pattis)
Smalltalk -- envisioned by Alan Kay as a programming language for kids.
Visual-rule based simulations (KidSim, Stagecast Creator, AgentBuilder, Visual AgenTalk)
Color XFORM (Image processing system) + scripting language (e.g., Lisp) -- a visual & symbolic approach at U of Wash.