Mindstorms: Children, Computers, And Powerful Ideas Paperback – August 4, 1993

Papert was a pioneer in the field of instructional technology. Papert highlights two main constructs - one that children can learn to use technology in meaningful ways; and two, the ability to use technology as a part of the learning process effects the way future learning will take place.Papert took aspects from the Piagetian theoretical framework to support his learning philosophy. Specifically, Papert believed that children are the builders of their own intellectual structures. In other words, children use the tools around them to learn and build their intellect. Papert's theoretical framework differed slightly from Piaget's in that he highlighted the differences in the "tools" with which children use by noting the importance of the culture surrounding those tools and the learning environment it provides. Instead of attributing slower development to complexity, as Piaget would have done, Papert believes that the culture from which the learner operates in should also be considered as a factor of development.Papert regarded teaching and learning in traditional classrooms of his time as inefficient, forced and sometimes even painful, and believed that instructional technology would transform classrooms as well as informal learning environments to more intuitive and nurturing environments. Papert certainly did not assert that instructional technology was a "magic wand" so to speak, but rather a tool that may enable a different path to success, or even an initial one! With a background in mathematics, Papert was well-aware of what he described as "mathaphobia," or the inclination of students to dislike math or believe they could not succeed in math. In an effort to combat learning obstacles like "mathaphobia," Papert created a scheme of optimal learning which would include the following components: tools for learning are integrated into the learner's "natural landscape." In other words, the learner should be able to experiment with the learning tools and relate to them in an intuitive manner. Additionally, the learning tools should be modeled by knowledgeable others, so the learner can relate to them in collaborative experiences. Papert also considered "body knowledge" to be an essential part of the learning process; learners should be able to use their kinetic intelligences on a regular basis during the learning process. The final component of optimal learning, according to Papert, is the ability to relate the new information to existing knowledge in a meaningful way.Papert used "computer-controlled cybernetic animals" or robots to explore the technology integrated learning process and optimal learning environments. Using robots and the LOGO computer language, Papert created learning tools and experiences for children and found great success when providing a free contact between the learners and their tools.Papert openly admits that he is a bit of a utopian thinker, and he writes as such, but his theories do resonate with instructional technologists, and educators overall. Educators, including myself, have seen that technology integrated learning environments can provide rich learning opportunities and Papert's Mindstorms is a great look at where technology integration started and also provides a multifaceted lens from which to critically examine where we are going in the future. I highly recommend!

This is the best book I have ever read on how to assist people to learn for themselves. Papert began his work by collaborating with Jean Piaget, and then applied those perspectives in a self-programming language designed to help children learn math and physics.Papert explains Piaget's work and provides case studies of how the programming language, LOGO, can help. He provides a wonderful contrasting explanation of the weaknesses of how math and physics are usually taught in schools.I learned quite a few things from this that I did not know before. People are very good at developing theories about why things work the way they do. I knew that these theories are almost always wrong. What I did not realize is that if you give the person a way to test their theory, the person will keep devising new theories until they hit on one that works. What is usually missing in education is the means to allow that testing to occur.An especially imaginative part of this book were the discussions of how to create theory testing solutions that are much simpler and easier to apply than any school problem you ever saw in these subjects. Papert works from a very fundamental and deep understanding of math and physics to reach the heart of the most useful thought processes for applying these subjects. It is thrilling to read about what you have known for many years, and to suddenly see it in a totally different and improved perspective.Another benefit I got from this book were plenty of ideas for how to help my teenage daughter with her math. She is very verbal, and Papert points out that math seldom teaches a vocabulary for talking about math. As a result, she memorizes a lot and gets dissociated from the subject. I got a lot of ideas for how to encourage her to personalize the concepts and problems by moving her own body. From that I realized that I often solve the same kinds of problems by recalling physical situations I have been in. But I have failed to help her make that connection because I was unaware of it on a conscious level.If you want to improve as a learner, help others learn better and faster, or simply want to understand more about different ways to think, this is a great book. I hope that all teachers get a chance to read and apply it.Enjoy learning more!

"I want you to go away from this book with a new sense of a child's value as a thinker, even as an 'epistemologist' with a notion of the power of powerful ideas... By growing up with a few very powerful theorems one comes to appreciate how certain ideas can be used as tools to think with over a lifetime." - PapertThe book and the quote are focused on educating children, but as Paper points out himself, this observation applies to all ages - it's just that children (likely) stand to benefit the most from its application. So, what is an example of a powerful idea? For one, that separation between the learning process and what is being learned is a mistake. Our approach to teaching math provides (unfortunately) many bad examples: memorizing theorems, which are divorced from any roots in our everyday models of the world provides no benefit. No wonder many "hate it" and find it "dull". And yet, this is no fault of the subject - math is just one example - but rather of how we have decided to teach the subject.The book covers Paper's exploration of building an alternative environment for teaching math through the LOGO programming environment: the value of "debugging", the idea of "subroutines", algorithms, and practical examples of how to allow any learner to learn and refine their mental theories within an interactive workflow. The book uses math and the LOGO language as practical examples, but the implications of Papert's ideas reach far, far wider.Long story short, this is a must read for anyone with an interest in education and learning. This book is not about LOGO, or teaching math, it's a book about improving the very process of learning any subject. It just so happens that computers may help us on this quest, if used correctly.

Print quality: Bad.- There was no spaces that it made my eyes hurt.- No stylistic separation between different paragraphs/topics which makes it hard to know if the author moved from a topic to another or no.- But in general, the characters were clear. i.e., there was nothing like vanished characters, if I remember correctly.Content: Great!- Really, the content is great.- Again, the content is really really great.- You may think the content is outdated, but I felt it very relevant.Writing style: Good or okay.- Sometimes, it's very nice and in other times, partially due to no-stylistic-separation problem, you can't understand what the author means.- A few times, there's too much meta-writing. Stuff like "So, next I will talk about X". I don't like that. I prefer that to be done through providing extra spaces between the paragraphs of the new topic. This was mainly in the first 3 chapters.So, in general, would highly recommend!

This book is about the need to have children programming computers, not computers programming children.It is a failure, because it was written in the 1980s, and now computers train children, and children almost never learn to program computers.Everybody should read this, parents particularly, and teachers more than parents.This book describes the Logo programming environment as it was in the 1980s. Computing has moved on, and there isn't much of Logo left these days.Computer programming to a deep level could never have been easy, but I'm not sure whether it has become more difficult than it absolutely needed to be.

Eu já havia lido esta obra antes, mas comprei porque li por empréstimo. Um livro fundamental para professores de todas as séries, acredito que em especial para os anos iniciais. O que esta edição tem que a torna ainda mais especial é o prefácio escrito por Mitchel Resnick, que acabou me levando a uma obra sensacional dele, que tem tudo a ver com esta: Jardim de Infância para a vida toda.

Lo avevo perso alla prima uscita (1980); leggerlo adesso ne esalta i toni profetici e la capacita' di individuare in quali direzioni si sarebbero mosso didattica e informatica.

Book's content is good but the publisher has printed the text very small