1. Playing to learn,
learning to think
Cathleen Galas
Squeakfest 2013
Rosario, Argentina
October 2013

2. The way it was
(19th-20th century)

3. John Dewey
American philosopher, psychologist, educational reformer
1859-1952
The teacher is not in the
school to impose certain
ideas ……. Thus the
teacher becomes a
partner in the learning
process, guiding students
to independently discover
meaning within the
subject area. (Dewey, 1897)

4. The way it still is?
(20th century education)

5. The way it could be?

6. What
is the message?

7. Should computer science
be part
of formal schooling?

8.  CS will be part of the EBacc
 http://www.education.gov.uk/get-into-teaching/subjects-agegroups/computer-science

9. April 3, 2012
Computer Science Transitions
From Elective to Requirement
…..so some colleges are
updating mandatory general
education courses.
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2012/04/03/computer-science-transitions-from-elective-to-requirement-computer-sciencetransitions-from-elective-to-requirement

10. Australia
Learnable.com donates $10M of training to
teach Aussie kids to code
Melbourne, Monday 19 August 2013:
Australian students are today being given
$10 million of technical training free from
Learnable.com, a global online learning
company founded in Melbourne, which
believes that every student should have the
opportunity to learn to code.

11. Former US President
Bill Clinton
At a time when people are saying "I
want a good job - I got out of college
and I couldnt find one," every single
year in America there is a standing
demand for 120,000 people who are
training in computer science.

12. US President Barack Obama
"I think it makes sense, I really
do," was his response to the
idea posed in a live Google+
Hangout earlier today. "I want
to make sure that (young
people) know how to produce
stuff using computers and not
just consume stuff.”
C/NET, February 14, 2013
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-575695031/obama-endorses-required-high-school-coding-
classes/

13. Mark Zuckerberg
There just aren't enough
people who are trained and
have these skills today.

14. Ashton Kutcher
If we want to spur job growth in the US
we have to educate ourselves in the
disciplines where jobs are available and
where economic growth is feasible.

15. Is this the
WRONG
Message?

16. Instead…

17. Bill Gates
Learning to write
programs stretches
your mind, and helps
you think better,
creates a way of
thinking about things
that I think is helpful
in all domains.

18. The skill of coding is no different from the
skill of reading and writing ….. we live in a
coding illiterate world where the skill of
programming computers belongs to a
priesthood.
John Pavley, The Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johnpavley/learning-to-code_b_3337098.html

19. Steve Jobs
I think everybody
in this country
should learn how
to program a
computer because
it teaches you how
to think.

20. Mark Guzdial
Elliot Soloway
Computer Science is more important
than Calculus:
The challenge of living up to our
potential

21. Calculus vs. Computer Science?
Calculus
 Generally considered part of a
liberal education program
 Study of rates
 Rates are important to many
fields
Computer Science
 Generally considered an “extra”
course or skill
 Study of process




Specification
Execution
Compositions
limitations
 Process is important to
EVERYBODY

22. What revolutions
made us ask this
question?
Who started those
revolutions?

23. Three Revolutions of the Twentieth Century
COMPUTER
TECHNOLOGIES
FOR EDUCATION
CHILD
DEVELOPMENT
ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE
(AI)

24. Child Development
When you teach a
child something
you take away
forever his chance
of discovering it for
himself.”
-Jean Piaget
www.LifeLearningMagazine.com

25. Piaget’s “Child”
A young scientist whose
purpose is to find stasis in an
ever changing world.
Like a Robinson Crusoe:
curious, inner-driven,
independent, solitary
conquest.
Edith Ackerman, “Piaget’s Constructivism, Papert’s Constructionism: What’s the
Difference?”

26. Piaget to Papert
Jean Piaget
Constructivism
Seyjmour
Papert
Constructionism

27. Seymour Papert
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. One learns to enjoy
and to respect the power of
powerful ideas. …the most
powerful idea of all is the
idea of powerful ideas..

28. Papert’s Child

Diving into
unknown situations
is a crucial part of
learning

29. Piaget
Stepping
back
Papert
Diving in

30. Piaget and Papert
“A cognitive dance”
Diving in
reengagement
Stepping back
Detachment
and reflection

31. Lev Vygotsky
1896-1934, Russian
Social Constructivist Theory
(1) Children construct knowledge
(2) Learning can lead development
(3) Development cannot be separated from its social context
(4) Language plays a central role in mental development.
(ZPD) Zone of Proximal Development

32. Three Revolutions of the Twentieth Century
COMPUTER
TECHNOLOGIES
FOR EDUCATION
CHILD
DEVELOPMENT
ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE
(AI)

33. Artificial Intelligence

34. Perceptrons and
Society of the Mind
Minsky and Papert together

35. Three Revolutions of the Twentieth Century
COMPUTER
TECHNOLOGIES
FOR
EDUCATION
CHILD
DEVELOPMENT
ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE
(AI)

36. Computer Technologies for
Education

38. Papert
1982
1994

39. Powerful Papert (contd.)
” …….a property of ideas and a
challenge to the School culture.
On the positive side, the insight
also leads to a new vision of what
technology can offer education.

40. Three Revolutions of the Twentieth Century
COMPUTER
TECHNOLOGIES
FOR EDUCATION
CHILD
DEVELOPMENT
ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE
(AI)

41. WHO
Is at the center of these three
revolutions?

42. WHO
Is at the center of these three
revolutions?

43. Programming
is
applied logic

44. Programming to Learn
LOGO
Etoys
Squeak
Scratch
BYOB
SNAP

45. Programming to Learn
LOGO
Etoys
Squeak
Scratch
BYOB
SNAP
"At Learning Labs, we've spent hours and hours discussing
how we can help students follow their interests and passions,
and also help students learn powerful ideas and develop as
systematic thinkers.” – Mitchell Resnick

46. The way it could be?
 Teachers who give …..radically
different theory of knowledge. (p. 63)
 What would happen if children who
can't do math grew up in Mathland, a
place that is to math what France is to
French? (p. 64)
 ...they [the children] become
producers instead of consumers of
educational software. (p. 107)

47. Why Code
 Critical thinking skills
 Learn to break down and solve complex problems
 Programming Jobs
 Programming ubiquitous—basic literacy
 Programming is a language like any other (will it
become the world’s language?)
 The semantic web
 Programming is Fun! (PAPERT-”HARD FUN!”)

48. “Programming is debugging. So being
wrong is not so much something to
be avoided at all costs, but should be
seen as a clue to the right way of
doing it. That's why it was actually an
environment rather than just an
instructional program. “

49. Hewlett Foundation 2010
 “In one survey after another, business leaders complain that the
majority of U.S. job applicants are ill-equipped to solve complex
problems, work in teams, or communicate effectively.”
 “Hewlett envisions a new generation of schools and community
colleges…harness the deeper learning skills of critical thinking,
problem solving, effective communication, collaboration, and
learning to learn to help students develop a strong foundation
in traditional academic subjects.”
 http://www.hewlett.org/2010-annual-report

50. New Culture of Learning:
Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change
by Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown, 2011
 exploring play, innovation,
and cultivation of the
imagination as cornerstones
of learning
 create a vision of learning for
the future that is achievable,
scalable, and grows along
with the technology that
fosters it and the people who
engage with it.

51. EDUCATION
TECHNOLOGY
LEARNING TO
EMBRACE CHANGE

52. Culture of Learning
Teaching Based Approach
Learning Based Approach

53. “We are preparing students for jobs that do not
exist yet, that will use technologies that have
not been invented yet, in order to solve
problems that are not even problems yet.”
 “Shift Happens”
 www.shifthappens.wikispaces.com

54. EMBRACE
CHANGE

55. EMBRACE
CHANGE
CHANGE MOTIVATES AND CHALLENGES
CHANGE FORCES US TO LEARN DIFFERENTLY

56. How did kids learn about Harry
Potter?

57. Learning through play and
imagination
 PIAGET- young children learn through play
 Need for play is perceived as less as they
grow older and world is more stable
 HOWEVER…

58. Learning through play and
imagination
 PIAGET- young children learn through play
 Need for play is perceived as less as they
grow older and world is more stable
 HOWEVER…
 Today’s world is ever-changing, expanding

59. Learning through play and
imagination
 PIAGET- young children learn through play
 Need for play is perceived as less as they
grow older and world is more stable
 HOWEVER…
 Today’s world is ever-changing, expanding
 PLAY IS A STRATEGY FOR EMBRACING
CHANGE, rather than growing out of it.

60. There is a generic set of skills and
dispositions that are characteristic of
good learners. If learners can be
taught a language for these, they can
get better at “learning to learn”
across different contexts.

61. 21C Skills
 Critical thinking
 Problem solving
 Communication
 Collaboration
 Creativity
 innovation

62. Learning to Learn: 7 Dimensions of Learning Power
www.vitalhub.net/index.php?id=8

63. Learning to Learn: 7 Dimensions of Learning Power
www.vitalhub.net/index.php?id=8

64. New ways of learning
 The old ways are UNABLE TO KEEP UP
with the changing world
 New media makes peer – to – peer
learning easier and more natural
 Peer to peer is amplified: the new
media purports a COLLECTIVE nature of
participation

65. COMMUNITY—You learn in
order to belong
COLLECTIVE– You belong in
order to learn

66. The collective 
Produces INQUIRY 
Meaningful Learning

67. How do we
teach and learn
programming?

68. Mathematics was a study in which
we took order and analyzed it to
understand it.

69. With the computer revolution…
Mathematics ceased to be only
ANALYTIC
And became SYNTHETIC

70. Now…

71. We can take the
understandings we have
and
BUILD THINGS

72. Mathematics was a study in which we took
order and analyzed it to understand it.
With the computer revolution…
Mathematics ceased to be only ANALYTIC
And became SYNTHETIC
Now…
We can take the understandings we have
And BUILD THINGS
(points often made by Dan Ingalls!)

73. Teach programming
IN CONTEXT
Learn powerful ideas learning by
creating
Powerful mathematics turns into
play

75. INQUIRYBASED
LEARNING
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3377/3272923191_d6bdde2255_m.jpg

76. Learning as Inquiry
 Inquiry-based learning is
a constructivist approach, in which
students have ownership of their learning.
 Inquiry and Design based example:
 exploration and questioning

investigation into a worthy question,
issue, problem or idea.
 asking questions, gathering and analyzing
information, generating solutions,
making decisions, justifying conclusions
and taking action
www.galileo.org/inquiry-what.html
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3608/3423867025_0
6ec0511fd_m.jpg

77. Questions

79. How
Knowledge is constructed
through the active
engagement of a learner
within an active community
of practice

81. What does it LOOK like?
 Constructed
 Active
 Reflective
 Collaborative
 Inquiry based
 Evolving

82. If you can use technology to
make things you can make a
lot more interesting things.
And you can learn a lot
more by making them.
(Papert, 1999)

83. “Making the invisible a little
more visible.”

84. Constructivism is the idea that
knowledge is something you build in
your head.
Constructionism reminds us that the
best way to do that is to build
something tangible—outside of your
head—that is personally meaningful.
(Papert, 1990)

86. To understand technology ….
there’s no better way to do that then to
build things. …..
as a programmer you learn to think about
problems both objectively and by taking
into account all outcomes.
There are only positive outcomes that
can come from learning a new skill, and
programming is the skill of our future.

87. Constructionism is not a
spectator sport

90. Expand competencies
Challenge youth to participate as
PRODUCERS
As well as CONSUMERS of technology
(Peppler & Kafai 2007)

92. Topics in Squeak
•Cartesian coordinate geometry is employed to move the sprites
around the screen, and Squeak could be used to enhance math
lessons on the topic.
•Basic grammar could be taught using the sprites to represent
nouns, and the commands to represent verbs, etc..
•Constructivist lessons in literature might include learners creating
animations describing how they believe characters would behave if
something different were to occur in a story they are reading.
•Simulations could be developed to test hypotheses or demonstrate
understanding of scientific principles. (after hands on verification)

93. Three challenges in participatory competencies
that need to be addressed in preparing youth
for full digital culture participation (Jenkins et.
al. 2006)
 Participation
 Transparency
 Ethics

95. Teaching and learning
Piaget  Papert
“dwelling in” and “stepping back” are equally
important in getting such a cognitive dance
going. How could people learn from their experience
as long as they are totally immersed in it. ….. translate
the experience into a …… model gains a life of its own,
and description or a model can be addressed as if it
were “not me.” From then on, a new cycle can begin,
because as soon as the dialogue gets started
(between me and my artifact), the stage is set for new
and deeper connectedness and understanding.
Edith Ackerman

96. INQUIRY/Learning by Design
 Prior knowledge (activate)
 Background information
 Define outcomes
 Model design, provide frameworks
 Establish general topic
 Student teams, cooperative groups
 Establish and communicate framework for inquiry

97. Number 1 science lesson:
The World is not really what it seems.
See with new eyes
The San Francisco Exploratorium
(Oppenheimer-get out of your head)
500 exhibits

98. Learning Dispositions
Ways of learning to learn
Strengths and weaknesses
Building stronger dispositions

99. Learning to Learn: 7 Dimensions of “Learning Power”
Expert interviews + factor analysis from literature meta-review: identified seven dimensions of
effective “learning power”, since validated empirically with learners at many stages, ages and
cultures (Deakin Crick, Broadfoot and Claxton, 2004)
Being Stuck & Static
Changing & Learning
Data Accumulation
Meaning Making
Passivity
Critical Curiosity
Being Rule Bound
Isolation & Dependence
Being Robotic
Fragility & Dependence
Creativity
Learning Relationships
Strategic Awareness
Resilience
www.vitalhub.net/index.php?id=8

100. Learning Power: ELLI
ELLI: Effective Lifelong Learning Inventory (Ruth Deakin Crick, U. Bristol)
A web questionnaire generates a spider diagram summarising the learner’s selfperception: the basis for a mentored discussion and interventions
Changing and learning
Critical Curiosity
Meaning
Making
Learning relationships
Strategic Awareness
Creativity
Resilience
100
Professional development in schools, colleges and business: ViTaL: http://www.vitalhub.net/vp_research-elli.htm

101. Gender Issues

102. One
 The question is how we react to this great prejudice against
women.
 The rule of law and social activism certainly are crucial. But
no matter how strong the social structure, there is always
that cheek-slapped moment when you are alone with the
anti-woman prejudice: the joke, the leer, the disregard, the
invisibility, the inescapable fact that the moment you walk
through the door you are seen as lesser, no matter what
your credentials.

103.  Women represent 12% of all computer
science graduates.
 In 1984, they represented 37% of all
computer science graduates.
 http://www.girlswhocode.com/

104. Recoding Gender

Recoding Gender
Women’s Changing Participation in
Computing
By Janet Abbate
how gender has shaped
the culture of computing,
she offers a valuable
historical perspective on
today’s concerns over
women’s
underrepresentation in
the field.

105. http://appinventor.mit.edu/
© 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology

106. East Palo Alto girls create app to
clean up graffiti, trash
EPA CHICA SQUAD
http://appinventor.mit.edu/explore/stories/east-palo-alto-girls-create-app-clean-graffiti-trash.html

107. http://girlsinict.org/sites/default/files/resources/docs/exec.sum-e.pdf

108. How to be a woman programmer by Ellen Ullman
The New York Times, May 18, 2013
The first requirement for programming is a passion for the work, a
deep need to probe the mysterious space between human thoughts
and what a machine can understand; between human desires and
how machines might satisfy them.
The second requirement is a high tolerance for failure. Programming
is the art of algorithm design and the craft of debugging errant code.
In the words of the great John Backus, inventor of the Fortran
programming language: “You need the willingness to fail all the
time. You have to generate many ideas and then you have to work
very hard only to discover that they don’t work. And you keep doing
that over and over until you find one that does work.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/opinion/sunday/how-to-be-a-womanprogrammer.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

109.  It wasn't just about solving a problem. It
was about experiencing sophisticated
patterns that develop in mathematics,
using a scheme that children can relate
to (shapes). In the "car" example on the
computer, the point was that the same
phenomenon can be experienced by
using "paint" and a little programming,
but using concepts of velocity &
acceleration, 1st- & 2nd-order diff
eq.'s.”

110. Every part of Etoys Squeak is
DECONSTRUCTIBLE
Every part can be taken apart
Ask questions—
do you think this part of the environment could
be just like the objects you are manipulating?
the halos, the folders—even if you can’t get it
back together, doesn’t matter
I can take it apart!

112. Squeak Etoys
 direct pedagogical uses of the Squeak environment
 community of users that form a support network for the tool
 Squeakland showcase (a collective)
 Squeak is open-source, all the source code for the projects is
available for use to help understand develop one's own
programs.
 uploaded projects include tutorials explaining how to
accomplish various tasks in the programming language.

113. References
 Hagood, M.C., Stevens, L. P. & Reinking, D. (2002) What do THEY Have to Teach
US? Talkin’ ‘Cross Generations! In D. E. Alvermann (Ed.) Adolescents and
Literacies in a Digital World. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
 Jenkins, H., Clinton, K., Purushotm, R., Robison, A., & Weigel, M. (2006)
“confronting the challenges of participation culture: Media eduation for the
21st century.” White paper. Chicago, IL: The John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation.
 Peppler, K.A. & Kafai, Y.B. “What video game making can teach us about
learning and literacy: Alternative pathways into participatory culture,” in Akira
Bab (Ed.), Situated Play: Proceedings of the Third International Conference of
the Digital Games Research Association. (DiGRA) (Tokyo, Japan, September
2007) The University of Tokyo, pp. 369-376.
 Salen, K., & Zimmerman, E. Rules of Play: Game design Fundamentals. The MIT
Press, Cambridge, MA, 2004. MIT
 John Hagel III, John Seely Brown: Lang Davison, The Power of Pull: How Small
Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things In Motion, Basic Books 2010.

114.  Ackerman, E. , “Piaget’s Constructivism, Papert’s
Constructionism: What’s the difference?”, IDC, 2013, NYC.
 Fry, Spencer, Should You Learn to Program?, accessed
October 21, 2013, http://blog.teamtreehouse.com/shouldyou-learn-to-program, May 25, 2013.
 How to be a woman programmer by Ellen Ullman The New
York Times, May 18, 2013, accessed October 21, 2013,
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/opinion/sunday/howto-be-a-woman-programmer.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&.

115.  Kafai, Y., and Resnick, M., eds. (1996) Constructionism in Practice:
Designing, Thinking, and Learning in a Digital World. Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum.
 Papert, Seymour. (1990) “A Critique of Technocentrism in Thinking
About the School of the Future,” MIT Epistemology and Learning
Memo No. 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute
of Technology Media Laboratory.
 Papert, Seymour (1981) Mindstorms: Computers, Children and
Powerful Ideas. NY: Basic Books.
 Papert, Seymour (1993) The Children's Machine: Rethinking
School in the Age of the Computer. New York:Basic Books.

116.  Stager, Gary. (2001) "Computationally-Rich Constructionism
and At-Risk Learners." In Computers in Education 2001:
Australian Topics – Selected Papers from the Seventh World
Conference on Computers in Education. McDougall,
Murnane & Chambers editors. Volume 8. Sydney: Australian
Computer Society.
 Stager, Gary. (2002) “Papertian Constructionism and At-Risk
Learners” In the Proceedings of the 2002 National
Educational Computing Conference. Eugene, OR: ISTE

117. Seymour Papert Tribute
at IDC 2013
High resolution video of the entire
session: http://vimeo.com/69471812

118. Contact Information
Cathleen Galas
cgalas@comcast.net
Cathleengalas.com
LinkedIn: Cathleen Galas