In 1986, the MIT Media Lab made a laserdisc describing their research groups and mission. This video describes Seymour Papert’s Learning Research Group’s work at the Hennigan (middle) School in Boston. View the entire laser disc video at the Internet Archive. Transcript Narrator: (00:15)Learning Research Group’s School of the future project takes place in a …
Attached is a 1988 paper written by the designers of LEGO TC Logo, Seymour Papert, Steve Ocko, and Mitchel Resnick.
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 …
“Once upon a time information was handled orally, writing extended what could be done orally and printing went further. The computer is another step in the same series. But there is much more. The deep contribution of the computer to education comes from its being a constructional material as well as an informational medium. Children …
“Indeed, I would argue that anything that could be implemented in a school context without extensive use of digital technologies could not be fully true to the progressive ideal that children should be able to acquire knowledge by using it in activities in which they have a personal interest.” Papert, S. (1998) “Whose Finger is …
“I shall describe learning paths that have led hundreds of children to becoming quite sophisticated programmers. Once programming is seen in the proper perspective, there is nothing very surprising about the fact that this should happen. Programming a computer means nothing more or less than communicating to it in a language that it and the …
“The OLPC concept measures [sic: matches] with the idea that children can take charge of their own learning. Making videos, communicating, creating their own programs, our children will take charge of knowledge. I believe that having the individual computers–each child owns a computer and has it all the time–is the only way we can empower …
“In describing bricoleur programmers, we have made analogies to sculptors, cooks, and painters. Bricoleurs are also like writers who don’t use an outline but start with one idea, associate to another, and find a connection with a third. In the end, an essay “grown” through negotiation and association is not necessarily any less elegant or …
“How do we make writing become hard fun? One way is to develop for kids “writable” activities that they love to do. The building of robotic devices acquires “writability” because it lends itself to stage-by-stage description. Its writability is further enhanced by the use of word processors and digital cameras. But beyond technology there is …
“I end by mentioning two less specific “firsts” with which “Teaching Children Thinking” should be credited. At that time the concept of computers in education was synonymous with CAI (computer assisted instruction). I believe that “Teaching Children Thinking” was the first published paper to suggest that the child could be in charge of the machine …