“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.
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. 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.
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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. |
I. The Beginning (1967-1980)
Image Courtesy: Logo Foundation Website
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)
A Programmable Brick
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 basisfor Lego robotic kits today.
III. educational technology (today)
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A YouTube video made publicly available by Camilla Bottke
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Video: Courtesy of Scratch Ed
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IV. Educational Technology (of the future!)
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I am a friend and peer of Pat Bettley in Perry. She forwarded me your blog and I find it very helpful in my new position as design facilitator for K-4, including using the tech lab to foster authentic student learning. I am in the beginning stages of learning all the software available for students in my age bracket. Thank you for providing such a professional blog.
Natalie, I enjoyed reading your blog post. As educators, I firmly believe a constructionist approach to teaching is crucial. Not only will the concepts we teach students become better ingrained in order for them to be more academically successful, but more importantly, teaching using constructionism leads to students connecting the material they are learning to the outside or “real” world.
Looking forward to learning more about Scratch and Scratch Jr. too!
Jenny
Hi Cindy,
It’s great to hear from you. Your new position sounds fascinating! I look forward to hearing more about it. Scratch Jr., was just released last week as a FREE download on iTunes! It requires an iOS 7 or later and can be used on an iPad. I’ll have a later post describing Scratch Jr. in more detail. I’ll also feature KIWI- a developmentally appropriate robotics kit designed for young children. It will be available for purchase soon. I’ll keep you posted!
Hi Jenny,
Thanks for your thoughtful comment. Resnick’s article probably hit home for you – especially with the “piano vs. stereo” analogy. I’m looking forward to hearing your feedback on how these “producer” technologies can foster learning for PreK-2 music classes. Best of luck with your new school year. GO RED DEVILS!