Seymour Papert
For even if it’s only for a small number of people, so that you can see from that how to take the biggest steps.
I see it. The turtle in MicroWorlds is a metaphor for a computational object. It’s a particular computational object, but it’s getting children used to the idea of using a computational object to think about things. So, it’s also getting them used to the idea of using many other different sorts of computational objects.
So I don’t see it as having a unique role. So, it’s not all that different from if you make a, if you become very interested in making a certain kind of, of model out of Lego, say something moves around in the real world. That also can be an object-to-think-with – something guided by feedback.
For example. Is a very powerful object to think with about a lot of situations. The idea of feedback is a very powerful and widely used one, and it’s very easily learned in, in, in the concept of building, say a robot that will follow something, follow a line, or go towards a light. For me, the importance of playing with, of having.
Something like the Lego and something like the screen object with micro world in the learning environment is to prevent digital technology and the learning from focusing on one or other of these two things that if you can do wonderful things inside the computer. You can make a virtual reality, you can make things happen on the screen.
But I think it’s not, it’s unfortunate if you start thinking only in terms of this virtual world inside the computer you also need to make things that you can touch and feel and real. So I think it’s, I’ve always thought it very important for the learning environment to include building things out of matter.
And controlling them with with computers. But they built out of real patterns and not just made of bits. And so, that’s really for me, the relationship between the way we’ve been using the Lego and the way we’ve been using the micro world. So of course, this is much more general.
It didn’t have to be Lego. And Lego was a convenient way to provide children. Or adult learners. It’s not especially about children with, yeah. With an opportunity to build real physical things. And link it to the digital world.