February 22, 2012

“The essential point about the turtle is its role as as a transitional object. That is transitional between the body, the self and abstract mathematical ideas. The turtle, you can identify with it. You can move your body in order to guess how to command the turtle, so it’s related to you, to the body, [...]

February 21, 2012

“Plastic robots, arrows on screens, hyperactive sprites all belong to the same turtle family. They all obey the same commands. By getting to know these turtles the way they get to know a person, these children are learning to be mathematicians. This is Piaget’s real message to us – learning rooted in experience.” Papert, S. [...]

February 20, 2012

“What we really have to think about is what produces involvement? Engagement? What grabs the individual? And so, it’s much more related to love than to logic. It’s much more related to how you see yourself fitting into the social and cultural fabric, including how you see television. Is it something that’s been done to [...]

February 16, 2012

“Nineteenth century researchers seeking to improve transportation stumble on the idea of a jet engine and propose to use it to augment the power of horses pulling stage coaches. Researchers of a rival school ridicule the idea of using technology to solve the problem and suggest that the better way is to train the coachmen. [...]