“The world lost an amazing wit, intellect, inventor, bricoleur, scholar, freedom fighter, and friend with the passing of Seymour Papert. He was arguably the most influential educator of the past half century. It would be wise for us all to start thinking about what we each might do to build upon his mighty legacy.” Gary Stager, […]
A Heartfelt Tribute to Seymour Papert Read More »
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.
It All Starts with Seymour Papert Read More »
“Across the globe there is a love affair between children and the digital technologies. They love the computers, they love the phones, they love the game machines, and – most relevantly here – their love translates into a willingness to do a prodigious quantity of learning. The idea that this love might be mobilized in
On April, 24, 2014, the MIT Media Lab hosted a forum, “Learning from Seymour Papert,” featuring long-time friends and colleagues, Nicholas Negroponte, Alan Kay, and Marvin Minsky, along with one of Papert’s former students, MIT Professor Mitchel Resnick. I’m grateful that the lab recorded and shared video of the event. Enjoy! The Daily Papert is a
May 2, 2014 – Bonus Content Read More »
“Throughout this essay, I use the word “mathematics” as a stand in for all disciplines. I use the word “math” to refer to the largely obsolete stuff they teach in schools.” Papert, S. (2006). After How Comes What. In R. K. Sawyer (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences (Vol. 2, pp. 581-586). Cambridge:
“So, too, the mega-change in education that will undoubtedly come in the next few decades will not be a “reform” in the sense of a deliberate attempt to impose a new designed structure. My confidence in making this statement is based on two factors: (1) forces are at work that put the old structure in
“Math really is boring for most people because it is not connected with their interests and their fantasies. You can’t make it part of your dreams.” Papert, Seymour (2005) “A conversation with Seymour Papert, Marvin Minsky, and Alan Kay,” by David Kestenbaum. In Communications of the ACM Volume 48, Number 1 (2005), Pages 35-38. Retrieved
“I noticed that a lot of the discussion of computers was dominated by questions like, just to take one example, when they do Logo kids get confused about whether “turn” in Logo means turning this way or turning that way. Yes, they do – but that’s a consequence of it being an incidental, of spending
“The essence of Piaget was how much learning occurs without being planned or organized by teachers or schools. His whole point was that children develop intellectually without being taught!” “Papert misses ‘Big Ideas’ of the good old days in AI” MIT News. July 10, 2012. Retrieved on March 3, 2014 from http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2002/papert.html. The Daily Papert