EduCon 2.2

Papert Matters: Thinking About Children, Computers and Powerful Ideas

When:

Session Four: Sunday 10:30am–12:00pm

Where:

Room 204

Who:

Gary S. Stager, Ph.D.

Affiliation: Pepperdine University & The Constructivist Consortium

Conversational Focus/Audience:

All School Levels

Conversation Description:

Seymour Papert, often referred to as the "father of educational technology," is arguably one of the most important thinkers of the past half-century. However, too few educators are aware of his ideas and contributions to the field. Papert's work is too often dismissed for having the audacity to ask educators to do better. Papert's creation, Logo, was the catalyst for a vibrant community of educators committed to giving voice to powerful ideas in their classrooms. Yet his influence has been much greater. Through an exposition of Papert's lesser-known writing and speeches, this session demonstrates Papert's tangible impact on the creation of classroom robotics, laptops, HyperCard, Squeak, Scratch, 1:1 computing and creation of the MIT Media Lab. I will also discuss Papert's enormous influence on the fields of artificial intelligence, computer science, mathematics, educational computing, epistemology, learning and the politics of school reform. His prescience regarding the dominance of the information metaphor predicted the fallacies promoted by today's Web 2.0 community. This session explores just a few of Papert's most powerful ideas about children, computers and learning through his own words and rarely seen video. The presenter worked closely with Dr. Papert for years. Educators new to Papert's theories will be challenged to think deeper about learning. Others may be inspired to reinvigorate their practice and challenge the status quo.

Conversational Practice:

Conversation with the folks in the room and remotely during and after the session will be part of the session. Resources will be shared for further reading.

Website:

http://stager.tv/blog

Elluminate Rooms ( instructions for launching Elluminate )

Stream via Elluminate: Room 204 — Channel B

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