Research Group Projects and Descriptions

	Future of Learning Principal Investigator: Seymour Papert and David Cavallo While most agree that learning in the twenty-first century needs to change drastically, few go so far as to question the basic conceptual and organizational constraints we inherited from nineteenth century-constraints that severely limit our thinking about how we learn. The Future of Learning program focuses on radically redefining the conceptual framework of education.
1-Teacher Schools	David Cavallo, Seymour Papert, Shaundra Bryant Daily, Arnan Sipitakiat and Claudia Urrea Typically, 1-teacher schools are viewed as relatively backwards due to lack of resources, but research shows that teachers at such schools can have stronger, fuller, and deeper relationships with their students, and that the students can be more autonomous and in control of their own learning while still more supportive of and cooperative with their peers. Technology can provide connectivity, eliminating some resource constraints. We go further, using new learning methodologies and technologies to build upon the strengths of 1-teacher schools, creating models of learning environments to serve as exemplars not only for rural education, but also for large urban environments. Alumni Contributor(s): Anindita Basu
1:1 Laptops: Learning with the Hundred-Dollar Laptop	David Cavallo, Laura Elizabeth Nichols, Seymour Papert, Arnan Sipitakiat and Claudia Urrea Suppose that one could put a connected, portable computer into the hands of all the children of the world who lack access to the kind of education that would prepare them for participation in a modern, knowledge-based society. Would you use the computers to put the children through the standard curriculum of "developed" countries? This project—a complex undertaking—sets out to design radically different approaches. Some of its components, such as theoretical studies of the epistemology of learning, extend work we have pursued in the past. A component not undertaken before is developing a scientific basis for the design and implementation of a whole essentially new curriculum—or more likely, the process through which such a curriculum will evolve. Experiences such as the pilot program, which implemented a 1:1 computer infrastructure in a small rural community in Costa Rica, are been developed and studied.
Constructionism	David Cavallo and Seymour Papert We are developing "Constructionism" as a theory of learning and education. Constructionism is based on two different senses of "construction." It is grounded in the idea that people learn by actively constructing new knowledge, rather than by having information "poured" into their heads. Moreover, constructionism asserts that people learn with particular effectiveness when they are engaged in constructing personally meaningful artifacts (such as computer programs, animations, or robots). Alumni Contributor(s): Bakhtiar Mikhak and Mitchel Resnick
Content for the Digital Age	David Cavallo, Seymour Papert, Shaundra Bryant Daily, Arnan Sipitakiat, Claudia Urrea and Jessie Chen The computer's promise as a fundamentally different medium for learning will not be realized merely by re-hosting existing content onto new technological platforms; rather, its potential is in its use as a medium for construction, design, expression, and debugging. Areas once thought to be beyond the grasp of young learners are attainable when we shift from paper and pencil and static representational forms to computational and dynamic forms. We can enable children to connect on a personally meaningful basis with deep mathematical and scientific ideas through the development of new content and new tools. Our work in RoBallet and movement is one example of this work.
CREATE: Opportunities for Technology Appropriation	Seymour Papert, David Cavallo and Claudia Urrea CREATE research proposes a holistic model for learning environments drawing from experiences in technologically saturated environments. The pilot experience of the research program, which implemented a one-to-one computer infrastructure in a small rural community in Costa Rica, is the first to consider concretely such an infrastructure in a developing country, and analyze it from different dimensions. The case study of this suggests that "appropriation" is the most powerful theoretical lens for studying the effects of the computer presence in learning environments. The details of the model, the case study, and some examples that illustrate the students’ appropriation of technology will be presented during the open house.
Design for Global Education	Seymour Papert and David Cavallo We are at last approaching a time when low-cost computers will make it technically feasible to provide real education to ALL the children of the world. It will be absurd if content and pedgagogy copies the past. This project aims to mobilize people, ideas, and resources to develop a radical new methodology and content.
Flexible and Appropriable Materials for Constructing Knowledge	David Cavallo and Laura Nichols This project proposes both to investigate how a more open and flexible construction toolkit enables rich learning in mechanical and structural engineering as well as to investigate how introducing engineering concepts through an open-ended art/storytelling project provides for a welcoming entry to the hard sciences. Through using raw materials instead of pre-designed parts, we will investigate the exploration by the learner of design from raw material to part, as well as from part to whole. Through construction, we will examine how builders develop a proficiency in externalizing their ideas about motion, structure, and form, and how reflection upon, discussion about, and re-internalization of this ability to externalize ideas changes the way they think about, talk about, and approach future designs. The constructions are centered around the theme of artistic interactive 3-D storytelling. Through this, we will explore how builders express and incorporate their own interests and stories into their designs, and as a result, become engaged in learning new concepts.
Giving the Head a Hand	David Cavallo and Arnan Sipitakiat This work will present case studies of how people can build understanding of some ideas in motion control by mediating their experiential knowledge about body motion using interactive sensing and control computational environments. The computational tools are designed to attempt to draw upon how people express their understanding of the physical experience and create bridges to more formal understanding and representation of the phenomena. The goal of this case study is to demonstrate that although the essential importance of formal representation cannot be doubted, it can be shown that expert practices, in fact, involve other non-formal forms of knowledge as well. This awareness, in a learning context, implies that a deep understanding of formal knowledge is developed not only by learning the formal descriptions in isolation, but by incorporating them with other forms of understanding as well.
GoGo Board: A Personalized Technology Toolset for Learning	David Cavallo and Arnan Sipitakiat The GoGo board provides a simple interface for computers to interact with their surrounding environments. Projects using the GoGo board include various sensing and control applications, games, and environmental sensing. It allows students to be engaged in the design and implementation of solutions to a problem by augmenting locally found, low-cost materials with digital technology. The GoGo board has been designed and used in schools in São Paulo, and a network of teachers, students, and other users of the GoGo board is being created. The simplicity of the GoGo board design opens up possibilities for learners to create or modify the board for their particular needs. The research goal is to study the factors, both technical and social, needed to support communities of not-so-technical people to participate in the process of designing the tools that they want. Alumni Contributor(s): Paulo Blikstein
Learn to Teach: Teach to Learn	Cynthia Solomon, Ed Banfi, John Francis, Mel King, Seymour Papert, David Cavallo, Shaundra Bryant Daily, Laura Elizabeth Nichols, Arnan Sipitakiat, Miguel King and Susan Klimsczak L2T:T2L is a multi-year, three-phase program enabling urban youth to learn science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. First, the students study in a variety of technical areas, including programming, robotics, personal fabrication, digital video, alternative energy, and Web design and tools. Next, they develop their own projects over an extended period using computational tools. Finally, they will work with younger children in several community centers to provide the same type of learning experiences. The idea is that the youth will not only learn by teaching and thereby solidify their knowledge, they also will gain the satisfaction of contributing to the development of their community. The project also serves to test new content, tools, and learning materials for subsequent use in schools, and scales through consistent participation.
Learning and Community Development	David Cavallo, Seymour Papert, Shaundra Bryant Daily, Arnan Sipitakiat and Claudia Urrea This project is developing new ways of working with local communities to create long-term self-sufficiency through the introduction of new methodologies and technologies. Computational technologies (i.e., low/alternative power and low-cost technologies) can open both new possibilities for development and new ways of learning and working. These opportunities can result in a deeper understanding of the environment and of applicable innovations leading to self-sufficiency. The methods used should take a systemic view and actively encourage and support sustainable development, active participation, ownership by and empowerment of local communities, and integrated participative evaluation processes. One of the primary areas upon which we will focus is learning: not learning in the abstract or in the typical school sense, but instead learning in the context of the local needs of the community, such as food production, environmental issues, and infrastructure. Alumni Contributor(s): Georgina Echániz Pellicer, Anindita Basu and Paulo Blikstein
Learning Hubs	Edith Ackermann, Felton Earls, Alice Cavallo, Carol Sperry, Cynthia Solomon, Gary Stager, David Cavallo, Seymour Papert, Shaundra Bryant Daily, Jacqueline Karaaslanian, Tara Rosenberger Shankar, Arnan Sipitakiat, Claudia Urrea, Savalai Vaikakul, Maya Carlson and Michael Tempel We are creating a network of entities called "Learning Hubs." The two primary goals are to create at least one new pilot for an innovative learning environment, and to form a local group to develop, guide, research, and help others appropriate successful models. Participants believe that changes in the learning environment are possible, desirable, and urgently needed as digital technology spreads; that the introduction of computers into schools is inadequate; and that larger changes will not be automatic consequences of the presence of technology in schools. Local Learning Hubs will serve as public-access technology and learning centers, schools, centers for community development, incubators for small technology-based businesses, sites for professional development of educators, and centers for intellectual and political discussion. Local Learning Hubs differ by country; this international network is essential, creating a critical mass of concrete examples of innovative learning environments. Alumni Contributor(s): Anindita Basu
Mega-Change in Learning	Cynthia Solomon, Edith Ackermann, Seymour Papert, David Cavallo, Shaundra Bryant Daily, Laura Elizabeth Nichols, Arnan Sipitakiat and Mel King One dimension of our group’s unifying goals is research in learning itself, but postulating new ideas for learning is not enough. What can we do to help bring about real impact and tap the latent global learning potential to provide opportunities for every child (and adult) to have the learning environments they deserve? We make a conceptual distinction along three integrated lines: content, tools and environments, and real-world initiatives. Each of our projects emphasizes at least one of these. We work on extremely low-cost technologies to achieve a high ratio of computational material to learner and provide an immersive environment that opens new possibilities for learning otherwise not achievable. We develop new content and support materials that take advantage of access. We create demonstration projects to explicate new ideas, show possibilities, and provide a means for reflection for learning and to facilitate the change process.
New Content, Materials, and Environments for the Digital Age	David Cavallo, Laura Nichols and Arnan Sipitakiat This project explores the new learning possibilities created through interaction between physical and virtual objects. We hope to show how the tangibility of physical objects and the programmability of computers can be combined to encourage and enable deep understanding of mechanical, structural, and interactive design. Two case studies are being developed: the first involves interactive sculpture design through the use of wire and found objects as construction materials, combined with active sensors/actuators to provide interaction; the other study involves self-balancing robots through which learners develop strategies of balance based on the analysis of their own bodies.
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