Category Archives: Written by: Natalie Harr

From playpen to playground

Cyberlearning, Written by: Natalie Harr
By Natalie Harr
(Blog Post #6)
Digital Playgrounds vs. Virtual Playpens
 Marina Umaschi Bers and her students in the DevTech Research Group at Tufts University are examining how technologies might be used to help our youngest learners to learn. The research team uses the analogy of “playgrounds vs. playpens” to help us understand how technology can help engage children in imaginative or exploratory play and the kinds of developmentally appropriate and playful learning opportunities that may not be possible without technology.

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Playgrounds are places where children go to play and learn. Children can choose to play tag, climb a slide, rest under a tree, or imagine new games. When you think about the physical design of these spaces, playgrounds naturally support a child’s imagination, playful exploration, social interaction, and motor coordination all within a safe structured environment.

Now, think about how a playground compares to a playpen. In a playpen, the walls limit a child’s movement, exploration, socialization, and ultimately their playful curiosity. Bers and her students are developing technologies that allow learners to imagine, explore, and interact together as they would in a playground setting.
Meet KIWI: Kids Invent With Imagination

Picture KIWI Prototype: Courtesy of DevTech Research Group

As an early childhood educator, I am JUMPING UP and DOWN about KIWI (now commercially known as KIBO)! This simple, easy-to-use robotics kit is purposefully designed for young children (4-7 year olds/preschool-grade 2) and can be seamlessly integrated into early learning environments. 

With the pressures for more academic rigor in our schools today, the beauty of KIWI is that it engages children in meaningful, cross-curricular projects that support the development and application of fundamental academic skills that are most critical in the early childhood years — at the same time nurturing their developmental needs for creative play and exploration. By programming the KIWI robot, children playfully learn the logic of sequencing (how order matters), mathematical one-to-one correspondence concepts, and a wealth of pre-literacy skills that are at the core foundation of all early learning.

Check out this video to learn what KIWI is and how it can support 
digital “playground”  learning in early childhood settings. 
Video: Courtesy of the DevTech Research Group
In this video, Marina Umaschi Bers explains why she is interested in creating developmentally appropriate technologies for early learners. She also addresses the purposeful design of KIWI (a KIBO prototype) and how it fosters meaningful learning opportunities for our youngest and most impressionable learners. 
Video: By Natalie Harr
KIWI: A “Developmentally Appropriate” Learning Technology

“Developmentally appropriate practice, often shortened to DAP, is an approach to teaching grounded in the research on how young children develop and learn and in what is known about effective early education. Its framework is designed to promote young children’s optimal learning and development.”

                                                       -The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)

KIWI consists of intuitive, easy-to-connect construction materials that are  developmentally appropriate for early learners. Rather than “writing code” or arranging icons on a computer screen, young children physically connect tangible, wooden blocks that represent different computer commands (e.g., go left, shake, turn). Children “read” or make meaning of the words, icons, and colors located on the programmable bricks to decide what behaviors KIWI should do.

Once the blocks are connected in an appropriate sequence from left to right (just like reading), children use the robot’s scanner (similar to a handheld grocery store scanner) to program each command – sequentially one at a time (one-to-one correspondence) – into the CHERP (Creative Hybrid Environment for Robotic Programming) software. 
By pressing KIWI’s start button, the robot comes to life and performs the sequence. Be sure to check out KIWI’s FREE curriculumhere. 

Video: By Natalie Harr
 Bers explains how computer programming is a natural fit in an early childhood curriculum.
Children learn sequencing skills in the context of making a robot!
Design Feature of KIWI 


main body of robot

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Robotic pieces

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Photo: Courtesy of DevTech Research Group

programmable bricks

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Photo: Courtesy of the DevTech Research Group
GREEN: “Begin” or start sequence block
ORANGE: “Sing“ or sound blocks (clap, stomp)
PURPLE: “Shake” or action blocks (shake, spin, turn)
RED: “End” or stop sequence block
How It Fosters “DAP”
Developmentally Appropriate Practice
KIWI’s main body is constructed of natural wood for longevity and durability in early childhood settings. Its “shoebox” size enables children to explore its features within small groups or as a whole class.  

The body’s plain design encourages children to personalize it with their own artistic creations. Throughout this creative process, kids are experiencing balance and forces and making engineering design decisions as they balance and anchor their creations onto the mobile robot. 

The robot’s underbelly is covered with a clear plastic layer revealing its inner mechanisms –  provoking curiosity, conversation and wonderment among children and adults alike.

The robotic pieces (sensors, motors, wheels, interlocking blocks) are made of durable, natural wood for easy manipulation by small hands. Their unique sizes and shapes help students to correctly match them with their corresponding slots and prevent choking hazards. 

The simple design of KIWI gives children a sense of choice and ownership of their construction, without feeling frustrated or emotionally overwhelmed by too many options.

The child-friendly pieces of KIWI can be compared to their own body parts to understand their functionality: we see with our eyes (light sensor), we hear sounds with our ears (clap sensor), we read words (just like the scanner “reads” the barcode) on each programmable block. 

Just like reading words in a story, students see the importance
of left to right directionality to create a sequence of commands.

KIWI’s scanner reads a barcode just like a scanner at a grocery store. Children can easily understand how it works based on their prior knowledge and experiences.  

Programmable blocks are vibrantly color-coded and labeled with recognizable words (using uppercase letters for preschoolers) and corresponding icons (supporting pre-literacy skills) to help children successfully build a programmable sequence of commands.

Children can sort (a mathematics skill) the programmable bricks by color to organize and understand the different robotic functions.
Their interlocking design scaffolds correct sequencing (e.g., the “green” begin block can only be attached at the start of the sequence).

The construction process enables learners to be active and develop their fine and gross motor skills. 
The KIWI (prototype) in action in early childhood classrooms.
Video: Courtesy of DevTech Research Group
Video: Courtesy of DevTech Research Group
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Meet KIBO
KIBO Robotic Kits are now commercially available. Check out KinderLab Robotics Store for more information.
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Envisioning the future of education – CYBERLEARNING

Cyberlearning, Written by: Natalie Harr
By Natalie Harr

“Cyberlearning is about designing new kinds of applications and technology rich experiences, learning how to use them well to foster and assess learning, making the experiences work for particular disciplines and populations, and putting them in place in the world in ways that make a difference.”       

                                                                                  -Center For Innovative Research in Cyberlearning (CIRCL)

(Blog Post #4)

PictureMerge Ahead

CYBER is a generic prefix that means of, relating to, or characteristic of the culture of computers. A computer is any 
programmable, electronic device, that can store, retrieve, and process data (including smartphones, G.P.S. devices, tablets, and laptops).                                                                  -Merriam-Webster Dictionary

LEARNING  is a relatively enduring change in behavior as a result of experience. People can learn alone or with others in collaboration. Learning can be facilitated by learning environments that incorporate
                                                   information and communication technologies.   
                                                                                         –How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School,The National Academies Press, 2000

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The 21st century requires students to develop a 
contemporary skill set for our global economy. Rich skills in computation, collaboration, communication, and creativity are highly valued in our modern society. As the world has evolved, so has our understanding of how people learn. In contrast to traditional teaching methods, in cyberlearning projects, students are designing, creating, solving problems, making mistakes, actively reflecting on their experiences, and gaining deeper understanding as they learn essential 21st century skills.
CYBERLEARNING is an exciting, new field of research that merges these two disciplines of study (learning & computing) to design learning technologies —technologies that can help people learn and assess learning. This innovative field uses what scientists have discovered about how people learn and how to foster learning to inform the design of these technologies. These new innovations can potentially transform who, what, when, where, and how we learn.  
   Learning Sciences

Study of how people learn
Computing

Study of computers & technology, including design and uses
New Field of Science!

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How can technology be used to help people learn?

PictureEcoMUVE: A Screenshot of the Pond Module. A Virtual Reality Cyberlearning Technology. Photo Courtesy of the EcoMUVE Development Team


 
Virtual reality (VR) technology can be used to create computer-simulated environments that can immerse learners into a virtual world. Using computer controls, learners can interact with a virtual environment as if it’s a real setting. Virtual worlds can mimic real places (e.g., a volcano, the digestive system) or imaginary settings (e.g., a planet from another galaxy) for deep exploration. Learners are then free to explore and investigate phenomena that are too big or small, too fast or slow, or too dangerous to otherwise experience in real life.

 For Example…
EcoMUVE: Multi User Virtual Environment

EcoMUVE: A demo video of the Pond Module. Courtesy of the EcoMUVE Development Team

EcoMUVE, for example, is a 3-D virtual world designed to immerse middle school students in simulated habitats (a pond or forest module) as part of an inquiry-based ecosystems curriculum.This Multi User Virtual Environment, or MUVE, has the look and feel of a video game, but it is used instead to immerse learners within the complexity of a specific habitat.

In the pond module, learners investigate a virtual pond and its surrounding environment during a two-week period to understand why the fish have died off. They begin by going underwater and examining the life below the pond’s surface. They take virtual measurements of such factors as water temperature, weather conditions, turbidity (water clarity) and pH levels on different virtual days, working together to understand the fundamental components of the virtual ecosystem and identify the causal relationships that influence them.

The EcoMUVE development team, composed of Chris Dede, Professor Tina Grotzer, Dr, Amy Kamarainen, Dr. Shari Metcalf as well as numerous master’s and doctoral students, explains their work below:

“The first module represents a pond ecosystem. Students explore the pond and the surrounding area, even under the water, see realistic organisms in their natural habitats, and collect water, weather, and population data. Students visit the pond over a number of virtual “days,” and eventually make the surprising discovery that, on a day in late summer, many fish in the pond have died. Students are challenged to figure out what happened – they work in teams to collect and analyze data, and gather information to solve the mystery and understand the complex causality of the pond ecosystem.”                                                                                   -The EcoMUVE Development Team

EcoMUVE is released under a FREE license from Harvard University. REGISTER HERE for access to EcoMUVE downloads and curriculum. EcoMUVE is funded by the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education.

follow-up research: eco-mobile

PicturePhoto Courtesy of EcoMUVE Development Team

The EcoMUVE project team received funding from the National Science Foundation and Qualcomm’s Wireless Reach initiative, for a new follow-up research project called EcoMOBILE. (Ecosystems Mobile Outdoor Blended Immersive Learning Environment). Stay tuned to learn more about this augmented reality (AR) technology in a future post.
Common Misconceptions about Cyberlearning
Cyberlearning is often misunderstood by the general public as “online learning.”   This confusion stems from the creation of cyber-related words to help describe our swift changing horizon of technology and its impact on our world. However, these words (eg., a cybercafe, cybersurfing, cyberbullying) often describe online or Internet-based environments, thus limiting our full understanding of “cyber” and its implications.

Another misconception is that using technology will automatically foster learning. As I’ll try to show you, fostering learning with technology is complex (as is fostering learning without technology); it requires not only good technology but also using the technology and facilitating discussion around its use in effective ways.

Cyberlearning has also been misinterpreted as a replacement of teachers within classrooms.

As demonstrated in the video below, cyberlearning requires the expertise of teachers to facilitate and contextualize the rich learning opportunities allotted by these educational technologies. These learning opportunities would otherwise be impossible or impractical without the combined power of teachers and next generation technology. 

Produced by Kelly Whalen for KQED Education in conjunction with Northwestern University’s iLab, with support from the National Science Foundation.

technology tidbit #2

Classroom Technology, Constructivism, Written by: Natalie Harr
By Natalie Harr

“Would you rather that your children learn to play the piano, or learn to play the stereo?”
                                                                       -Mitchel Resnick, Amy Bruckman, Fred Martin (1996)

(Blog Post #5)

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In the article, Pianos Not Stereos: Creating Computational Construction Kits (1996), Mitchel Resnick and his colleagues from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Media Lab pose the question, 
“Would you rather that your children learn to play the piano, or learn to play the stereo?” Playing the stereo means choosing and listening to pre-recorded music. Playing the piano allows exploring and constructing sequences of sounds, rhythms, tempos, harmonies and styles of music. Stereo players are consumers; a piano player creates. 

One can think about educational technologies the same way. Resnick and his colleagues point out that there is a lot of “emphasis on the equivalent of stereos and CDs” in our educational technologies “and not enough emphasis on computational pianos” in what we make available to learners.

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Video: Courtesy of PhET Sims
For Example…

PhET Interactive Simulations (see above) are widely used in classrooms today to help learners visually comprehend physical phenomena (e.g., forces of motion, gene expression, molecular shapes) that cannot be seen with the naked eye. Through the use of graphics and click-and-drag manipulation tools, PhET simulations are interactive enough to help students explore cause-and-effect relationships, connect them with underlying scientific concepts or real-world scenarios, and envision what cannot be easily observed in the real world. Resnick would say that PhET is a consumer technology; learners can choose a pre-created simulation to work with and manipulate it.

Just Think About It

PhET is a highly valuable tool for exploring “what happens when” scenarios and to help learners construct mental images of invisible phenomena. But just imagine if learners could build their own computer simulations — trying things out and making decisions on how to best model the complexities of the physical world — then running their simulation to see what happens. With that said, let’s check out the technology below…

Scratch Jr: A Technology Toolbox for Young Creators! 

PictureScratch Jr. Screenshot. Image Credit: Dev Tech Research Group


This new cyberlearning technology called Scratch Jr. supports young learners from ages 4-7 as producers of expressive media. 

Using a touchscreen device, children can create their own interactive stories and games   by dragging and connecting graphical programming blocks   to make characters and stories come to life.


And, it’s a FREE app for Android and i Pad tablets!

Resnick (cited at the beginning of this post) would say Scratch Jr. is a “creator” technology; children can playfully design, build, model, and test their own ideas using this digital toolbox. This kind of technology provides opportunities for deep, multidimensional learning that could not be made possible with a consumer technology. Educational technologies, such as Scratch Jr. -developed by Marina Bers and the DevTech Research Group– are designed with a constructionist approach to learning. In this approach, educational technologies are allowing learners to be creators. Stay tuned for more posts regarding Scratch Jr.

How Do They Come Up with These Technologies??!!
Constructionism is an approach to learning “by doing.” It builds from the renowned work of Jean Piaget and his theory of constructivism (notice the subtle difference in spelling). Piaget said that people generate knowledge and meaning (build schema) based on interactions between their experiences and their ideas. 

Seymour Papert, a protege of Piaget, took this theory several steps farther.  He has argued for a constructionist approach to learning; people actively engaged in designing things and making them work.  As a revolutionary thinker, he has envisioned the power of computers as a tool for learning, especially for children. 

  This video was made publicly available on YouTube by Seth Morabito.

Seymour Papert is the world’s foremost expert on how computers can foster learning. This  video demonstrates his remarkable insights into technology and learning decades ago — far before computers were feasible or affordable.  
 Constructionism: A Brief Timeline

I. The Beginning (1967-1980)

PictureImage Courtesy: Logo Foundation Website

     Logo: Learning by Programming

In 1967 Seymour Papert and his colleagues at the   Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) developed the first version of Logo; a groundbreaking computer programming environment to support mathematical learning. Since then, Logo has undergone several iterations and became widespread with the dawn of personal computers in the 1970’s. It has been used by young learners, novices, and experienced learners alike as a tool to develop simulations, games, and multimedia presentations. The most popular LOGO environment has featured a turtle icon, whose actions are controlled by the input of computer commands. In 1980, Papert published his highly influential book (especially in education) called Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas.

II. Logo Legacy continues  (1990’s)

PictureA Programmable Brick

For the past twenty years, Mitchel Resnick (a protege of Papert) has been developing a new generation of educational technologies that draw on the work ofSeymour Papert. In the article Pianos Not Stereos: Creating Computational Construction Kits (1996), Resnick and his colleagues describe three technologies they developed at the MIT Media Lab that draw on the constructionist approach to learning:

StarLogo was designed to help students “construct worlds in the computer” to explore the behaviors and patterns of decentralized systems (e.g., ant colonies, traffic congestion). 

MOOSE Crossing was an online community that provided students a way to collaboratively create and interact within virtual worlds. 

The programmable brick, a computerized and programmable Lego (e.g., reactions to sound, light, motion) block, now serves as the basis
for Lego robotic kits today.

III. educational technology (today)

Lego MindStorms (based on the programmable brick shown above) andScratch are two widely used educational technologies from Resnick’s MIT Media Lab that aim to support “learners as creators” in their own design activities. These technologies have been implemented into schools and other learning environments across the globe.
 Lego MindStorms
A YouTube video made publicly available by Camilla Bottke
Scratch
Video: Courtesy of Scratch Ed

IV. Educational Technology (of the future!)

In upcoming blogs posts, we will explore the “next generation” of learning technologies such as  KIWI, Eco- MOBILE, Scratch Jr., InquirySpace, etc., that all have foundations in this constructionist approach to learning.

TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION

Cyberlearning Report 2017, Written by: Natalie Harr
By Natalie Harr
     (Blog Post #3)

“Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.”            -Albert Einstein

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Technology has transformed nearly all aspects of society, and education needs to support this transformation. Schools and communities are faced with the challenges of preparing our youth for the societal challenges ahead of them. As society becomes more technological and globally connected, students must become more techno-
logically literate, flexible, creative, computational, and collaborative — in addition to the traditional knowledge and skills that have been valued in schools for over a century.

PictureAn Industrial Factory, Image Credit: Wikipedia

A Look at Workforce Challenges
As new technologies have emerged, demands of the workforce have drastically shifted. For example, manufacturing used to be manually repetitive and regimented, but technology has made modern manufacturing and factories far more automated. Human work in those environments is more creative nowadays and less repetitive. Workers also need to be able to communicate and collaborate well and make informed decisions. Since technology has been integrated into these environments, workers need to understand technology well enough to support it.
Early 20th Century
Industrial Age

Courtesy: Library of Congress

Mid 20th Century
Digital Revolution
Early 21st Century
Information Age

Courtesy: National Science Foundation 

Technology has transformed other work environments as well. Advances in areas as diverse as medicine, travel, communication, entertainment, and even space exploration have continued to evolve as technology innovates. Communication, collaboration, technological literacy, and critical thinking are important in all these different fields.

In addition, there has been a fundamental shift within our nation’s economic structure. We now live in a global, knowledge-based, innovation-centered economy. This requires communication and collaboration across cultures and languages in addition to the other skills listed above. Current-day students will be able to thrive in such an economy only if they have the multidimensional skill set it requires.

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Getting Schools out of the Industrial Age

American schools were originally designed to prepare students for a national industrial economy. As our world has evolved, the 
foundational structure of American education, however, has remained largely unchanged. 
But schools can take advantage of technology too, especially to help foster deep, multi- dimensional learning opportunities that will better prepare students for the challenges of the 21st century.

As we have come to better understand how people learn, inquiry and project-based
instructional pedagogy that encourage a collaborative learning environment have begun to supersede traditional styles of teaching. At the same time, traditional educational tools have been modernized by incorporating digital technology (e.g., interactive white boards, video projectors, digital microscopes), and this has allowed them to be used in more collaborative ways.

In parallel, the Internet has changed the ways we can access and share information, and computers and handheld devices have become more ubiquitous, portable, and versatile. Such technologies and others that are being developed will allow communication, sense-making, collaboration, and new kinds of learning experiences that will foster deep learning and critical and creative thinking needed to succeed in the modern world. The challenges are to imagine the roles technology might play in education, to continually design innovative learning technologies, and to understand how to use them well to support learning.

Changing Education Paradigms Video (Dec 2010)
 This RSA Animate is created from a speech given by Sir Ken Robinson, a world-renowned education and creativity expert.

CYBERLEARNING: THE EDUCATORS’ CORNER 

Cyberlearning, Written by: Natalie Harr
By Natalie Harr

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Welcome Educators!                                                                 (Blog Post #1)

My name is Natalie Harr. I want to share how technology has the potential to transform the future of education. Just imagine if you had  “next generation” learning technologies (see below) at your disposal…

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Computational Tools for Modeling and Animated Storytelling

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Augmented Reality for Seeing Invisible Phenomena
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Serious Gaming for Understanding Complex Systems


New genres of technology can revolutionize how people learn in any setting…at school, at home, in the park…

          EVERYWHERE!
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********************************************* Robotic Foreign Language Friends

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********************************************* Immersion into Simulated Worlds
The possibilities for teaching and learning are endless!

LET’S “PREVIEW” THE Future

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This blog aims to provide educators with a 
sneak preview into the next generation 
of technologies currently being developed to help people learn. Together, let’s explore these new ways of using technology for education and creatively imagine how these can transform our schools and other learning environments – five, ten, or even twenty years 
into the future.  

Along the way, we will meet the people behind the innovative research field called 
cyberlearning and explore the history of technology & education. And, most importantly, we will use this blog as a platform to ask questions, engage in thought-provoking conversation, and to “dream big” about the implications of this technology for learning, especially in classrooms of the future. I encourage you to open up your mind so we can play with these untapped possibilities!

I am extremely fortunate to be spending this school year as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow serving at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Washington, DC. Here, I have been immersed in a federally-funded, cutting-edge research program that aims to develop the next generation of learning technologies. This NSF-funded program is known as Cyberlearning and Future Learning Technologies.    

Technology TidBit #1

Cyberlearning Report 2017, Written by: Natalie Harr
By Natalie Harr
                                                                                                                   (Blog Post #2)
Think about the word TECHNOLOGY. What comes to mind? Most often we think of computers, telephones, or radios as prime examples. But what about a clock? A chair? Even a pencil is considered a technology. So before we delve into future technologies, let’s examine what technology truly is and the kinds that currently exist today.

PictureImage Credit: Wikipedia

A technology is anything made by humans to solve a problem. Thankfully, paperclips 
were designed to keep papers organized and pens for recording our thoughts and ideas. Yes, these are both technologies that teachers heavily rely on!

There are many different kinds of technology that we depend on for daily use. Some are quite simple (e.g., pencil, paper), or complex (e.g., printers, telephones, radios) or really complex (e.g., airplanes, automobiles, computers). Some are mechanical (e.g., a stapler), electronic (e.g., a calculator) or a combination of mechanical and electronic (e.g., computer). Even the clothing we wear is an example of technology. 
SIMPLE
Technologies

COMPLEX
Technologies
VERY COMPLEX
Technologies

PictureImage Credit: Wikipedia

TECHNOLOGY is ALL AROUND US.  
It has transformed how we communicate, travel, make decisions… basically how we live our lives. As we have progressed into the 21st century, the development, adoption, and advancement of technology has grown exponentially. And as technology continues to transform and innovate, so does our reliance on it.

Just think of the recent history of cell phones… With each new iteration (new version), cell phones have become more compact, portable, and functional. In the past fifteen years or so, our cell phones have literally evolved into handheld computers! 

Phones have become so “smart,” in fact, that we can now use them as learning technologies. Students can use their phones to do simple things like bringing photos or movie clips of discoveries for class discussion (e.g., animal tracks found in their backyard) or for complex tasks like running data analyses (e.g., calories expended in a day).  

As I continue the blog, I will present technologies, some you are familiar with, some you are not, that can be used to foster learning. I will also help you have imagination about how to use technologies you are familiar with educationally.

TECHNOLOGY.  TIME.  TRANSFORMATION.