This category describes the time period in which Papert published or spoke the specific quote
“My proud father suggested “being clever” as an explanation. But I was painfully aware that some people who could not understand the differential could easily do things I found much more difficult. Slowly I began to formulate what I still consider the fundamental fact about learning: Anything is easy if you can assimilate it to […]
A Daily Dose of Inspiration from Seymour Papert Read More »
“In many schools today, the phrase “computer-aided instruction” means making the computer teach the child. One might say the computer is being used to program the child. In my vision, the child programs the computer and, in doing so, both acquires a sense of mastery over a piece of the most modern and powerful technology
”We’re moving into a time when people need to know how to learn things they weren’t taught in school. Second, we now have the technology to let kids learn better. This will not just allow them to learn the same things better; it will teach kids to learn radical new things at all ages.” –
“When people claim that my vision of education does away with teachers, I get very upset. That turns on its head what I’ve been trying to say. Schools give teachers very little opportunity to teach. They spend most of their time brainwashing or forcing children to do rote activities nobody believes in. In the kind of learning environment I envision, teachers can really teach.” Greth, C. V. (2983). Seymour Papert on Education and Language. Atari Connection (Fall 1983), 22-25. Retrieved from https://ia801708.us.archive.org/9/items/Atari_Connection_Volume_3_Number_3_1983-09_Atari_US/Atari_Connection_Volume_3_Number_3_1983-09_Atari_US_text.pdf
February 29, 2020 – Happy Birthday Seymour! Read More »
Curator’s Note: Melody Ayres-Griffiths, Editor of Paleotronic Magazine, recently sent me a link to this obscure 1983 Seymour Papert interview found at the Internet Archive (full issue). The issue followed a predictable storyline from that era – debate Logo vs. BASIC. Another old friend of mine, Arthur Luhrmann, was setup in a virtual debate with
February 29, 2020 – Happy Birthday Seymour! Read More »
Seymour Papert (early 200s): And by the way something that we’ve seen that’s incredibly encouraging is that there’s a lot of fear that computers can mean … teachers are afraid to give up control in their classroom. It’s really interesting, the schools that have already had these computers here. There’s none of that, not a
Seymour Papert: One of the negative … one of the big problems about computers in Maine and this is a continuing problem, we got … say we are assimilated into this local state group that it was The Governor’s Initiative. Okay, so the computers contract is now signed with Apple to provide computers starting seventh
Eight Big Ideas Behind the Constructionist Learning Lab By Dr. Seymour Papert (1999) From the Ph.D. dissertation, “An Investigation of Constructionism in the Maine Youth Center,” by Gary Stager, 2007. A number of translations of this document into other languages may be found here. The first big idea is learning by doing. We all learn
Eight Big Ideas Behind the Constructionist Learning Lab Read More »
“Connecting new knowledge to things you know and love, and things you think you can do, makes you feel good about it, makes you take it in in a form that is your own. By taking in knowledge in a form that feels to you as you, you change your feelings about yourself as well.
Seymour Papert makes several profound points in this very short clip from a 1991 conference keynote. The complete video, along with its transcript may be found here. “Another way of describing what school does to children is infantilizing them, treating them like children so to speak. Now, one’s got to be careful playing with that