Among Dr. Seymour Papert’s vast contributions to knowledge, his framing of educational decision making through the lens of instructionism vs. constructionism may be the most profound, useful, and enduring. Any discussion, debate, controversy, or concern about education policy or decision about pedagogical approach is based on the personal stance of how you believe learning occurs. […]
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Perestroika and Epistemological Politics Keynote address at the World Conference on Computers in Education at Darling Harbor, Sydney, Australia July 1990 By Seymour Papert[*] MIT Media Laboratory 20 Ames Street, E15-313 Cambridge, MA 02139 During the week of the conference you have been immersed in exciting and focused discussions about actual uses of computers in real educational settings.
Seymour Papert Would Like a Word with Ron DeSantis 33 years ago Read More »
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.
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The Lessons of Logo Teaching and Computers Magazine “The Magazine for Teachers of the 1990s” March/April 1990 – Volume 7, Number 5 Orlando, L. C. (1990). The Lessons of Logo. Teaching and Computing, 7(5), 20-25. Teaching and Computers Lessons of Logo 1990 searchable It was almost 25 years ago that Logo, the first programming language
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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
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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
Alan Kay and Seymour Papert testify before a rogue’s gallery of Congressional misfits and a clueless venture capitalist. In October 1995, the House Committee Economic and Educational Opportunities and House Science Committees held a nearly three-hour hearing to examine “technological advances in education.” The first two hours or so of the hearing are a
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The MIT Media Lab is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Seymour Papert was one of the founders of the Media Lab and in this video created by LEGO, his influence on learning and technology for children. 30 years of collaboration towards empowering children to be creative thinkers from LEGO Foundation on Vimeo.
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Question by kid reporters: Some adults are afraid of computers, but kids love them. Why? Answer by Seymour Papert: “I don’t know the answer to that, but I think it is the most important question in the world. Children feel that computers are their thing. As children grow up, they’ll be doing everything in a
