by Contemporary discussions of educational technology seem consumed with data management, total cost of ownership, testing and everything but student learning. It may be worth taking some time to reflect on our current practice and think about what’s possible. Are we doing all we can to use computers to empower students and change classroom practice?
Want to know how your school or district’s computer use measures up? Read Twenty Things to Do with a Computer, by my friends Cynthia Solomon & Seymour Papert. (Here is a scan of a journal version of the same text with photos)
This groundbreaking work was published in 1971. How does your school practice compare against such “ancient” predictions?
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.