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We are developing "constructionism" as a theory of learning and a strategy for education. Constructionism is based on two different senses of "construction." It is grounded in the idea that people learn by actively constructing new knowledge, not by having information "poured" into their heads. Moreover, constructionism asserts that people learn with particular effectiveness when they are engaged in "constructing" personally meaningful artifacts (such as computer programs, animations, or robots).
We are adding digital capabilities to the traditional toys of childhood -- and, in the process, redefining how and what children learn. For example, we are developing "programmable beads" that communicate with neighboring beads along a string. Put these beads together in different ways and you get different dynamic patterns of light. When children play with traditional toys (such as beads, blocks, and balls), they gain an understanding of concepts such as number, size, and shape. With our new digital versions of these toys, children can learn concepts (feedback and emergence) that were previously seen as too complex for children.
We are extending the child's construction kit, building computational power directly into LEGO bricks. With these Programmable Bricks, children can create their own "Things That Think." Children are using these new bricks (and related sensors) to build autonomous robots; to create "active rooms"; and to run "personal science experiments." Our newest Programmable Bricks, known as Crickets, are designed especially for tasks involving sensing and communicating.
In this NSF-funded project, we are developing computational tools and project materials that allow children to create their own scientific instruments enabling today's children, like scientists of earlier eras, to become engaged in scientific inquiry not only through observing and measuring but also through designing and building. Our hypothesis is that students, by building their own scientific instruments, will not only become more motivated in science activities, but will also develop critical capacities in evaluating scientific measurements and knowledge, make stronger connections to the scientific concepts underlying their investigations, and develop deeper understandings of the relationship between science and technology.
The Computer Clubhouse is an after-school learning center, where young people (ages 10-16) use computers to work on extended projects related to their own interests and experiences. The Clubhouse focuses on youth from under-served communities, who would not otherwise have access to technological tools and activities. At the Clubhouse, participants design their own computer graphics, robots, videogames, interactive newsletters, music, simulations, multimedia presentations, and animations. We are studying how new "learning communities" can emerge in such settings.
We are studying how online virtual communities might change the way people (particularly children) learn, play, and think about themselves. In one type of online world, known as MUDs, participants not only "talk" and exchange messages, but they collaboratively construct the virtual world in which they interact. We are currently developing a graphical MUD, in which children can program the behaviors of objects and characters in a shared graphical world. This system makes use of our Yoyo programming environment, which preserves all of Java's features but makes them accessible to kids (and other non-expert programmers).
We are building tools to support dialogue and understanding within (both real and virtual) communities. For example, we have developed a set of interactive nametags (called "thinking tags") that facilitate conversation between people by telling them how much they have in common, or by providing new ways for them to share "memes" with one another. We are also developing Internet-based discourse tools to help online communities build a shared understanding of complex ideas and issues.
We are using tiny, wearable computers to create Participatory Simulations -- a new generation of educational activities in which students learn about dynamical systems by actually participating in simulations of the systems. For example, students can simulate the spread of an epidemic in which a "virus" jumps from one wearable computer to another. Our preliminary analysis indicates that the combination of physical and computer interaction leads to a richer learning experience than is possible with traditional computer-simulation activities -- or with traditional group activities without computer support.
Escher's World is a place where students create art and mathematics simultaneously in a studio setting. Making mathematics in such an expressive environment questions the very nature of what we mean when we say something is "mathematical." When children use mathematics as a tool for self-expression, they discover the visual, intuitive, and open-ended aspects of mathematical inquiry that are often missing from traditional mathematics classrooms. In this way, Escher's World explores how media technology dissolves the boundaries between traditional school "subjects"--and how these changes in turn force us to reexamine our understanding of what it means to think and to learn.
We are creating a major museum exhibit, called the Virtual Fishtank, to help people learn about decentralized systems and emergent phenomena. Museum visitors will create their own "artificial fish," then observe the patterns that form as their fish interact with one another on huge wall-sized displays. Through these activities, people will discover how complex patterns can arise from simple rules. The exhibit, developed in collaboration with The Computer Museum, is scheduled to open in summer 1998.
In a society where concepts of family, community and "what is right and wrong" are constantly changing, there is a need for learning environments that encourage children to actively explore the social and personal values they live by. This research looks at how on-line collaborative environments can become "tools to think with" about moral and ethical issues. This active inquiry involves introspection as well as the creation of narratives for reflection. The goal is to explore how new technologies can assist in children's discovery of their own identity as well as the underlying patterns that connect the worldviews proposed by different religions and cultures.
Computers make possible a new form of narrative expression, in which manipulable computational objects are integrated with text, graphics, and video. For example, a simulation of a scientific concept can be integrated with text descriptions of the concept, so that "readers" can actively explore the concept. Exploring Emergence and Going in Circles are two examples of this new form of expression. (Until recently, Web pages contained only "passive" objects. But new tools, such as Java, are turning the Web into a good medium for active essays.)
SEEING THROUGH COMPUTERS - Education in a Culture of Simulation
Natalie Rusk and Mitchel ResnickACCESS IS NOT ENOUGH - Computer Clubhouses In the Inner City
Ftp link to other Publications. Click on the ones ending with .hqx. You'll need Stuffit Expander to decompress them.