Gary Stager’s 30th Anniversary ISTE Sessions

This June’s ISTE Conference will be my thirtieth ISTE (formerly NECC) conferences as a speaker. I suspect that I have been part of 60-80 presentations at this conference over that period – a record few if any can match. I was also part of the keynote session at NECC 2009. (watch it here)

This year’s accepted presentations are an eclectic mix. I will be sharing the stage with Sylvia Martinez about making and maker spaces. My personal sessions reflect two of my passions and areas of expertise; using technology in the context of the Reggio Emilia Approach and Logo programming.

The Reggio Emilia Approach emerges from the municipal infant/toddler centers and preschools of the Italian city, Reggio Emilia. These schools, often referred to as the best schools in the world, are a complex mix of democracy, creativity, subtlety, attention to detail, knowledge construction, and profound respect for children. There are many lessons to be learned for teaching any subject at any grade level and for using technology in this remarkable spirit. Constructing Modern Knowledge has done much to bring the Reggio Emilia Approach to edtech enthusiasts over the past decade.

I began teaching Logo programming to kids and teachers 35 years ago and even edited the ISTE journal, Logo Exchange (killed by ISTE). There is still no better way to introduce modern powerful ideas than through Logo programming. I delight in watching teachers twist their bodies around, high-fiving the air, and completely losing themselves in the microword of the turtle. During my session, I will discuss the precedents for Logo, demonstrate seminal programming activities, explore current dialects of the language, celebrate Logo’s contributions to education and the computer industry, ponder Logo’s future, and mourn the recent passing of Logo’s father, Dr. Seymour Papert.

Without Logo there might be no maker movement, classroom robotics, CS4All, Scratch, or even software site licenses.

[easyazon_image align=”right” height=”110″ identifier=”1609620569″ locale=”US” src=”http://stager.tv/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/41lYZo4hO7L.SL110.jpg” tag=”neweasyazon-20″ width=”85″]So, what do making, Logo, and the Reggio Emilia approach have in common? Effective maker spaces have a lot to learn about preparing a productive context for learning from the educators of Reggio Emilia. Papert and the Reggio community enjoyed a longstanding mutual admiration while sharing Dewey, Piaget, and Vygotsky at their philosophical roots. Logo was used in Reggio Emilia classrooms as discussed in a recent translation of a book featuring teachers discussing student projects as a window into their thinking with Loris Malaguzzi, the father of the Reggio Emilia approach. One of the chapters in Loris Malaguzzi and the Teachers: Dialogues on Collaboration and Conflict among Children, Reggio Emilia 1990 explores students learning with Logo.

Gary Stager’s ISTE 2017 Presentation Calendar

Before You Build a Makerspace: Four Aspects to Consider [panel with Sylvia Martinez]

• Tuesday, June 27, 1:45–2:45 pm CDT
• Building/Room: 302A

Logo at 50: Children, Computers and Powerful Ideas

• Tuesday, June 27, 4:45–5:45 pm CDT
• Building/Room: Hemisfair Ballroom 2

Logo, the first computer programming language for kids, was invented in 1967 and is still in use around the world today. This session will discuss the Piagetian roots of Logo, critical aspects of its design and versions today. Anyone interested in CS4All has a lot to learn from Logo.

Logo and the fifty years of research demonstrating its efficacy in a remarkable number of classrooms and contexts around the world predate the ISTE standards and exceed their expectations. The recent President of the United States advocated CS4All while the standards listed above fail to explicitly address computer programming. Logo catalyzed a commitment to social justice and educational change and introduced many educators to powerful ideas from artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and progressive education.

Learning From the Maker Movement in a Reggio Context

• Wednesday, June 28, 8:30–9:30 am CDT
• Building/Room: 220

Discover how the Reggio Emilia Approach that is rooted in a half-century of work with Italian preschoolers and includes profound, subtle and complex lessons from intensely learner-centered classrooms, is applicable to all educational settings. Learn what “Reggio” teaches us about learning-by-making, making learning visible, aesthetics and PBL.

Direct interview requests to gary [at] stager.org

Gary Stager is the founder of the Constructing Modern Knowledge summer institute for educators July 11-14, 2017, coauthor of Invent To Learn – Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom, and curator of the Seymour Papert archive site, DailyPapert.com. Register today for Constructing Modern Knowledge 2017!

Gary Stager

Veteran educator Gary Stager, Ph.D. is the author of Twenty Things to Do with a Computer – Forward 50, co-author of Invent To Learn — Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom, publisher at Constructing Modern Knowledge Press, and the founder of the Constructing Modern Knowledge summer institute. He led professional development in the world’s first 1:1 laptop schools thirty years ago and designed one of the oldest online graduate school programs. Gary is also the curator of The Seymour Papert archives at DailyPapert.com. Learn more about Gary here.