I was taught LOGO in elementary school, and like most of my friends, used it to draw pictures.
But last year I read "Mindstorms," by Seymour Papert. The book is all about LOGO, and is also the namesame of LEGO's toy (which is based on LOGO).
It turns out that LOGO isn't about pictures, or even programming. It's about teaching kids procedural thinking and debugging, not so they can program, but so they can then apply those ideas to all aspects of learning--break problems down into pieces to isolate problems; change your perspective (imagine yourself AS the turtle) when you get bogged down.
The goal is to debug the process of how you learn--to learn about learning--so you're not afraid of learning anything new.
While that's a pretty neat idea, like many things in school, facts are taught over process, and kids are thus taught how to use a computer, instead of how to think about how to use a computer.
I think technology in education will pay off, but its effect is occuring slower than the pace often associated with computers. In the meantime, I highly recommend the book (though it's currently out of print).
Slashdot Mirror
they have Fischertechnik.
I've bought from them--they're nice to deal with. and if you're in Boston, you can drive out to Waltham to see the stuff in person.
J
I was taught LOGO in elementary school, and like most of my friends, used it to draw pictures. But last year I read "Mindstorms," by Seymour Papert. The book is all about LOGO, and is also the namesame of LEGO's toy (which is based on LOGO).
It turns out that LOGO isn't about pictures, or even programming. It's about teaching kids procedural thinking and debugging, not so they can program, but so they can then apply those ideas to all aspects of learning--break problems down into pieces to isolate problems; change your perspective (imagine yourself AS the turtle) when you get bogged down.
The goal is to debug the process of how you learn--to learn about learning--so you're not afraid of learning anything new.
While that's a pretty neat idea, like many things in school, facts are taught over process, and kids are thus taught how to use a computer, instead of how to think about how to use a computer.
I think technology in education will pay off, but its effect is occuring slower than the pace often associated with computers. In the meantime, I highly recommend the book (though it's currently out of print).
J