Although researching the work and contributions to educational technology is a reasonable task, choosing one particular individual is not easy. However, while reading Watters (2014), the name Seymour Papert caught my attention. I admire this man for two reasons: his educational philosophy and his inclusive approach to working with others.
I instantly connected to Papert’s philosophy of education because he was passionate about sharing how technology changes the way children learn. He always looked for procedural, hands-on activities for children and the opportunities to relate programing to other activities such as juggling, unicycle, bongo boarding, and cooking (Transformative Learning Technologies Lab @ Stanford, 2013). Rather than teachers simply giving an algorithm or formula and students practicing, he believed a mathematics curriculum must have a larger purpose full of ideas (Downes, 2011). His Constructionist theory of learning, where people gain knowledge by building things, is widely used by many educators. He compared computers to pencils—they are personal instruments we should access when we need them and when we want them (Papert, 1999). In collaboration with Wally Feurzeig and Cynthia Solomon, Papert created a computer program called Logo. This program was instrumental in the development of the LEGO Mindstorms robotics kit. (MIT News on Campus and Around the World, 2016).
I chose Papert because I admire him for working on a variety of projects, particularly with the less fortunate populations like troubled teens or people from remote villages (“Works by Papert”, n.d.). He touched the lives of many, including one of his fellow female Logo developers, Cynthia Solomon. Through his Logo Foundation, the vision of thinking, learning, and teaching in a computer culture is his legacy.
References
Downes, Stephen. (2011, September 22). Seymour Papert on idea aversion [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/8fNNWdrg1d4
MIT Media Lab. (2016, August 1). Professor Emeritus Seymour Papert, pioneer of constructionist learning, dies at 88.MIT News on Campus and Around the World. https://news.mit.edu/2016/seymour-papert-pioneer-of-constructionist-learning-dies-0801
Papert, Seymour. (1999). Diversity in Learning: A Vision for the New Millennium. http://papert.org/articles/diversity/DiversityinLearningPart1.html
Transformative Learning Technologies Lab @ Stanford. (2013, June 27). Cynthia Solomon on Seymour Papert [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/14gcdiU7-lM
Watters, A. (2014). The monsters of education technology. Licensed under the Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0.
Papert, Seymour. Works by Papert. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://papert.org
Attribution