1960s Archives - The Daily Papert

New Book Honors the Legacy of Seymour Papert

1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, Computers, Constructionism, Epistemology, Learning, Logo, Mathematics, Project-based learning, Robotics, School Reform, Science, Teaching / By gary

The book celebrates the 50th anniversary of a seminal paper by Cynthia Solomon and Seymour Papert. Published in 1971, Twenty Things to Do with a Computer, set the course of education for the next fifty years and beyond. I created the new book, Twenty Things to Do with a Computer Forward 50, to honor the vision set forth by Papert and Solomon a half-century ago. Four dozen experts from around the world invite us to consider the original provocations, reflect on their implementation, and chart a course for the future through personal recollections, learning stories, and imaginative scenarios.

May 12, 2014

1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, Computers, Learning, Logo, Mathematics, Robotics, Teaching / By gary

This page from Cyberneticzoo.com tells the history of the mechanical Logo turtle.

May 5, 2014

1960s, Constructionism, Epistemology, Learning, Mathematics, School Reform, Teaching / By gary

“Indeed, we might summarize all these points by saying that schoolchildren have been deprived of the opportunity of actually doing mathematics in any sense even thinly related to the working activity of mathematicians. Thus, it is not surprising that children resist, that they seldom carry over their training informal manipulation into less formal situations, and …

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April 29, 2014

1 Comment / 1960s, Epistemology, Learning, Mathematics, Teaching / By gary

“The relation of school children to mathematics remains deeply puzzling after more than a decade of wide-scale experiment in the classroom and in the cognitive laboratory. The extent of the puzzle is often obscured by popular prejudices about mathematics and about children. For if one asks: “why cannot every child learn algebra in a week?” the answer …

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February 13, 2012

1960s, Computers, uncategorized / By gary

“Thus in its embodiment as the physical computer, computation opens a vast universe of things to do. But the real magic comes when this is combined with the conceptual power of theoretical ideas associated with computation.” Papert S. (1980). Teaching Children Thinking in Taylor, R., Ed., The Computer in School: Tutor, Tool, Tutee. New York: …

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November 28, 2011

1960s, 1970s, 2000s, Computers, Constructionism, Epistemology, Logo, Project-based learning, Robotics, School Reform, Teaching, uncategorized / By gary

“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 …

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November 21, 2011

1960s, 1970s, 2000s, Constructionism, Epistemology, Learning, School Reform, Teaching, uncategorized / By gary

“Some of my colleagues are disappointed that School manages to so dilute the ideas or so circumscribe their impact that they can be “integrated” into an essentially unchanged system. I have learned to see things differently through my Piaget-trained eyes. At the core of Piaget’s theory of development is the process he calls assimilation: when …

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November 14, 2011

2 Comments / 1960s, 1970s, 2000s, Computers, Learning, Logo, School Reform, Teaching, uncategorized / By gary

“Although printed in 1970, “Teaching Children Thinking” was conceived in 1968 and bears the signs of the heady atmosphere of that time. Across the society change was in the air, deeply rooted assumptions were being challenged. On a smaller and less active but not less radical scale challenges to taken-for-granted ideas about children, about education …

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October 25, 2011

1960s, 1970s, Constructionism, Epistemology, Learning, Mathematics, School Reform, Teaching, uncategorized / By gary

“Let’s go back to Dewey for a moment. Intellectual growth, he often told us, must be rooted in the child’s experience. But surely one of the fundamental problems of the school is how to extend or use the child’s experience. It must be understood that “experience” does not mean mere busy work: two children who …

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April 25, 2011

1 Comment / 1960s, 2000s, Computers, Logo, uncategorized / By gary

Today’s feature is a very special addition to The Daily Papert. It is not by Seymour Papert, but is about some of his most important work, the invention of the Logo programming language for children. In 1967-68, few others imagined putting computational power in the hands of children. Two of those visionaries are honored here. …

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