Seymour Papert

Saturday, 22 December 2012

Seymour Papert Interview - One Laptop per Child (OLPC)

Why Learn Math and Science Seymour Papert

Talk by Seymour Papert & Robin Jettinghoff

Seymour Papert and Paulo Freire Debate Technology and the Future of Schools

Um Encontro Inesquecível entre Paulo Freire e Seymour Papert

Open Collage in a new Window

Email the Collage

Loading suggestions ...

Boston
Boston (pronounced /ˈbɒstən/ or locally /ˈbɔstən/ ( listen)) is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper, covering only 48.43 square miles, had a population of 617,594 according to the 2010 U.S. Census. Boston is also the anchor of a substantially larger metropolitan area called Greater Boston, home to 4.5 million people and the tenth-largest metropolitan area in the country. Greater Boston as a commuting region is home to 7.6 million people, making it the fifth-largest Combined Statistical Area in the United States.
In 1630, Puritan colonists from England founded the city on the Shawmut Peninsula. During the late 18th century, Boston was the location of several major events during the American Revolution, including the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party. Several early battles of the American Revolution, such as the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Siege of Boston, occurred within the city and surrounding areas. Through land reclamation and municipal annexation, Boston has expanded beyond the peninsula. After American independence was attained Boston became a major shipping port and manufacturing center, and its rich history now helps attract many tourists, with Faneuil Hall alone attracting over 20 million every year. The city was the site of several firsts, including America's first public school, Boston Latin School (1635), and the first subway system in the United States (1897).

wn.com/Boston
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge (informally known as Cambridge University or Cambridge) is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world (after the University of Oxford), and the seventh-oldest in the world. In post-nominals the university's name is abbreviated as Cantab, a shortened form of Cantabrigiensis (an adjective derived from Cantabrigia, the Latinised form of Cambridge).
The university grew out of an association of scholars in the city of Cambridge that was formed in 1209, early records suggest, by scholars leaving Oxford after a dispute with townsfolk. The two "ancient universities" have many common features and are often jointly referred to as Oxbridge. In addition to cultural and practical associations as a historic part of British society, they have a long history of rivalry with each other.
Cambridge ranks first in the world in both the 2010 and 2011 QS World University Rankings, sixth in the world in the 2011 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, and fifth in the world (and first in Europe) in the 2011 Academic Ranking of World Universities. Cambridge regularly contends with Oxford for first place in UK league tables. In the two most recently published rankings of UK universities by The Guardian newspaper, Cambridge was ranked first.

wn.com/Cambridge_University
Hanoi
Hanoi (Hà Nội; listen), is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam. It was eclipsed by Huế during the Nguyen dynasty as the capital of Vietnam, but Hanoi served as the capital of French Indochina from 1902 to 1954. From 1954 to 1976, it was the capital of North Vietnam.
The city is located on the right bank of the Red River. Hanoi is located at 1,760 km (1,090 mi) north of Ho Chi Minh City.
October 2010 officially marked 1000 years since the establishment of the city.
Turtle Tower in Hoan Kiem Lake, in central Hanoi
Emperor Lý Thái Tổ made Thăng Long (Hanoi) his capital in the 11th century
Colonial Hanoi
Modern Hanoi
Hanoi has been inhabited since at least 3000 BC. One of the first known permanent settlements is the Co Loa citadel (Cổ Loa) founded around 200 BC.
Hanoi has had many names throughout history, all of them of Sino-Vietnamese origin. During the Chinese domination of Vietnam, it was known first as Long Biên, then Tống Bình (Chinese: 宋平, Sòngpíng, "Song Peace") and Long Đỗ (Chinese: 龍肚, Lóngdù, "Dragonbelly"). In 866, it was turned into a citadel and named Đại La (Chinese: 大羅, Dàluó, "Big Net").

wn.com/Hanoi
Maine
Maine (ⁱ/ˈmeɪn/) is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost portion of New England. It is known for its scenery—its jagged, mostly rocky coastline, its low, rolling mountains, its heavily forested interior and picturesque waterways—as well as for its seafood cuisine, especially lobsters and clams.
For thousands of years, indigenous peoples were the only inhabitants of the territory that is now Maine. At the time of European encounter, several Algonquian-speaking peoples inhabited the area. The first European settlement in Maine was by the French in 1604 on Saint Croix Island, by Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons. The first English settlement in Maine, the short-lived Popham Colony, was established by the Plymouth Company in 1607. A number of English settlements were established along the coast of Maine in the 1620s, although the rugged climate, deprivations, and conflict with the local peoples caused many to fail over the years. As Maine entered the 18th century, only a half dozen European settlements survived. Patriot and British forces contended for Maine's territory during the American Revolution and the War of 1812. Maine was part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts until 1820, when it voted to secede from Massachusetts. On March 15, 1820, it was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state under the Missouri Compromise. Maine is the 39th most extensive and the 41st most populous of the 50 United States.

wn.com/Maine
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (ⁱ/ˌmæsəˈtʃuːsɨts/), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Massachusetts is the 7th least extensive, but the 14th most populous and the 3rd most densely populated of the 50 United States. The state features two separate metropolitan areas – the eastern Boston metropolitan area and the western Springfield metropolitan area. Approximately two thirds of the state's population lives in Greater Boston, most of which is either urban or suburban. Western Massachusetts features one urban area – the Knowledge Corridor along the Connecticut River – and a mix of college towns and rural areas. Massachusetts is the most populous of the six New England states and has the US's sixth highest GDP per capita.

wn.com/Massachusetts
MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also known as MIT, is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.
Founded in 1861 in response to the increasing industrialization of the United States, the institute adopted the European polytechnic university model and emphasized laboratory instruction from an early date. MIT's early emphasis on applied technology at the undergraduate and graduate levels led to close cooperation with industry. Curricular reforms under Karl Compton and Vannevar Bush in the 1930s re-emphasized basic scientific research. MIT was elected to the Association of American Universities in 1934. Researchers were involved in efforts to develop computers, radar, and inertial guidance in connection with defense research during World War II and the Cold War. Post-war defense research contributed to the rapid expansion of the faculty and campus under James Killian.

wn.com/MIT
MIT Media Lab
The MIT Media Lab (also known as the Media Lab) is a laboratory of MIT School of Architecture and Planning. Devoted to research projects at the convergence of design, multimedia and technology, the Media Lab has been widely popularized since the 1990s by business and technology publications such as Wired and Red Herring for a series of practical inventions in the fields of wireless networks, field sensing, web browsers and the World Wide Web. More recently it has focused particularly on design and technologies that address social causes. The One Laptop per Child (OLPC) was one of the notable research efforts which grew out of the Media Lab.
The MIT Media Lab was founded by MIT Professor Nicholas Negroponte and former MIT President Jerome Wiesner (now deceased) and opened its doors in the Wiesner Building (designed by I.M. Pei) (also known as the E15 building) at MIT in 1985. It grew out of the work of MIT’s Architecture Machine Group, and remains within MIT School of Architecture and Planning.

wn.com/MIT_Media_Lab
United States
The United States of America (commonly abbreviated to the United States, the U.S., the USA, America, and the States) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west, across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Pacific and Caribbean.
At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km²) and with over 312 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest by both land area and population. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2011 GDP of $15.1 trillion (22% of nominal global GDP and over 19% of global GDP at purchasing-power parity). Per capita income is the world's sixth-highest.

wn.com/United_States
University of Paris
The University of Paris (French: Université de Paris) was a university located in Paris, France, and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid-12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250. After many changes, including a century of suspension (1793–1896), it ceased to exist in 1970 and 13 autonomous universities (University of Paris I–XIII) were created from it. The university is often referred to as the Sorbonne or La Sorbonne after the collegiate institution (Collège de Sorbonne) founded about 1257 by Robert de Sorbon. In fact, the university as such was older and was never completely centered on the Sorbonne. Of the 13 current successor universities, the first four have a presence in the historical Sorbonne building, and three include "Sorbonne" in their names.
The universities in Paris are now essentially independent of each other, and some fall under the Académie of Créteil or the Académie of Versailles rather than the Académie of Paris. Some residual administrative functions of the 13 universities are formally supervised by a common chancellor, the Rector of the Académie of Paris, with offices in the Sorbonne. As of 2006, Maurice Quénet is the Rector of the Academy of Paris and Chancellor of the Universities of Paris. The Vice-Chancellor of the Universities of Paris is Pierre Gregory. Despite this link, and the historical ties, there is no University of Paris system that binds the universities at an academic level.

wn.com/University_of_Paris

Alan Kay
Alan Curtis Kay (born May 17, 1940) is an American computer scientist, known for his early pioneering work on object-oriented programming and windowing graphical user interface design, and for coining the phrase, "The best way to predict the future is to invent it."
He is the president of the Viewpoints Research Institute, and an Adjunct Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is also on the advisory board of TTI/Vanguard. Until mid 2005, he was a Senior Fellow at HP Labs, a Visiting Professor at Kyoto University, and an Adjunct Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Alan Kay showed remarkable ability at an early age, learning to read fluently at three years old. In an interview on education in America with the Davis Group Ltd. Alan Kay said, "I had the fortune or misfortune to learn how to read fluently starting at the age of three. So I had read maybe 150 books by the time I hit 1st grade. And I already knew that the teachers were lying to me."

wn.com/Alan_Kay
Andrea diSessa
Andrea diSessa is an education researcher who was one of the developers of the Logo programming language and coauthored the book Turtle Geometry about Logo. He has also authored highly cited research papers on the epistemology of physics, educational experimentation, and constructivist analysis of knowledge, and the book Changing Minds: Computers, Learning, and Literacy (MIT Press, 2000). He also created the Boxer Programming Environment, with Hal Abelson of MIT.
DiSessa received an A.B. in physics from Princeton University in 1969 and a Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1975. He is currently Evelyn Lois Corey Professor of Education at the University of California, Berkeley and has been a member of the National Academy for Education since 1995.

wn.com/Andrea_diSessa
Gerald Jay Sussman
Gerald Jay Sussman (February 8, 1947) is the Panasonic Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He received his S.B. and Ph.D. degrees in mathematics from MIT in 1968 and 1973 respectively. He has been involved in artificial intelligence research at MIT since 1964. His research has centered on understanding the problem-solving strategies used by scientists and engineers, with the goals of automating parts of the process and formalizing it to provide more effective methods of science and engineering education. Sussman has also worked in computer languages, in computer architecture and in VLSI design.
Sussman is a coauthor (with Hal Abelson and Julie Sussman) of the former introductory computer science textbook used at MIT. This textbook, Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, has been translated into several languages.
Sussman's contributions to artificial intelligence include problem solving by debugging almost-right plans, propagation of constraints applied to electrical circuit analysis and synthesis, dependency-based explanation and dependency-based backtracking, and various language structures for expressing problem-solving strategies. Sussman and his former student, Guy L. Steele Jr., invented the Scheme programming language in 1975.

wn.com/Gerald_Jay_Sussman
Idit Harel Caperton
Idit Harel Caperton, Ph.D. (born September 18, 1958 in Tel Aviv, Israel) is an educational psychologist and epistemologist specializing in the study of the impact of computer-based new media technology on the social and academic development of children. Her research, along with that of Seymour Papert, has contributed to the development of constructionist learning theory, a hands-on approach to the use of technology as a tool in juvenile education and acculturation.
She is the founder and CEO of MaMaMedia Inc., the executive director of the MaMaMedia Consulting Group (MCG), and founder and president of the World Wide Workshop Foundation. Additionally, Caperton is an advisor for several non-profit educational initiatives and is a regular featured speaker at universities and educational conferences worldwide.
Caperton often compares the early years of Israel to a business startup. Israel was a 10-year-old democracy when she was born, and in the process of building socio-political systems that combined leftist philosophies of cooperation and mutual reliance with free enterprise entrepreneurship. While a youth in the Levant, she experienced the Six Days War, the Yom Kippur War, and the 1982 Lebanon War. These events, along with other regional conflicts, such as the Gulf War, the First Intifada, and the Al-Aqsa Intifada, have led Caperton to actively support efforts to foster, build, and sustain peace in the Middle East and throughout the world.

wn.com/Idit_Harel_Caperton
Jean Piaget
Jean Piaget (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ pjaʒɛ]; 9 August 1896 – 16 September 1980) was a French-speaking Swiss developmental psychologist and philosopher known for his epistemological studies with children. He was the eldest son of Arthur Piaget (Swiss) and Rebecca Jackson (French). His theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called "genetic epistemology".
Piaget placed great importance on the education of children. As the Director of the International Bureau of Education, he declared in 1934 that "only education is capable of saving our societies from possible collapse, whether violent, or gradual."
Piaget created the International Center for Genetic Epistemology in Geneva in 1955 and directed it until 1980. According to Ernst von Glasersfeld, Jean Piaget is "the great pioneer of the constructivist theory of knowing."

wn.com/Jean_Piaget
Marvin Minsky
Marvin Lee Minsky (born August 9, 1927) is an American cognitive scientist in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), co-founder of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's AI laboratory, and author of several texts on AI and philosophy.
Marvin Lee Minsky was born in New York City to a Jewish family, where he attended The Fieldston School and the Bronx High School of Science. He later attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He served in the US Navy from 1944 to 1945. He holds a BA in Mathematics from Harvard (1950) and a PhD in mathematics from Princeton (1954). He has been on the MIT faculty since 1958. In 1959 he and John McCarthy founded what is now known as the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. He is currently the Toshiba Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, and Professor of electrical engineering and computer science.
Isaac Asimov described Minsky as one of only two people he would admit were more intelligent than he was, the other being Carl Sagan.Patrick Winston has also described Minsky as the smartest person he has ever met. Ray Kurzweil has referred to Minsky as his mentor.

wn.com/Marvin_Minsky
Mitchel Resnick
Mitchel Resnick is LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research, Director of the Okawa Center, and Director of the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab. Resnick currently serves as the head of the Media Arts and Sciences academic program, the academic program that grants master's degrees and Ph.Ds at the MIT Media Lab. Resnick's research group has developed a variety of educational tools that engage people in new types of design activities and learning experiences, including the "programmable bricks" that were the basis for the award-winning LEGO Mindstorms and StarLogo software. He co-founded the Computer Clubhouse, an award-winning network of learning centers for youth from under-served communities. Resnick is also a co-founder of the Center for Future Civic Media.
Resnick's group has developed a new programming language, called Scratch, that makes it easier for kids to create their own animated stories, video games, and interactive art. Resnick is also involved in the next generation of Programmable Bricks and in the $100 laptop project.

wn.com/Mitchel_Resnick
Seymour Papert
Seymour Papert (born February 29, 1928 in Pretoria, South Africa) is an MIT mathematician, computer scientist, and educator. He is one of the pioneers of artificial intelligence, as well as an inventor of the Logo programming language.
Papert attended the University of the Witwatersrand, receiving a B.A. in 1949 and a PhD in mathematics in 1952. He then went on to receive another PhD, also in mathematics, at Cambridge University in 1959. He was a leading figure in the revolutionary socialist circle around Socialist Review while living in London in the 1950s.
Papert worked as a researcher in a variety of places, including St. John's College, Cambridge, the Henri Poincare Institute at the University of Paris, the University of Geneva and the National Physical Laboratory in London before becoming a research associate at MIT in 1963. He held this position until 1967, when he became professor of applied math and director of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, until 1981; he also served as Cecil & Ida Green professor of education at MIT from 1974-1981.

wn.com/Seymour_Papert
Sherry Turkle
Sherry Turkle is a Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She obtained a BA in Social Studies and later a Ph.D. in Sociology and Personality Psychology at Harvard University. She now focuses her research on psychoanalysis and human-technology interaction. She has written several books focusing on the psychology of human relationships with technology, especially in the realm of how people relate to computational objects.
In The Second Self, originally published in 1984, Turkle writes about how computers are not tools as much as they are a part of our social and psychological lives. “‘Technology,’ she writes, ‘catalyzes changes not only in what we do but in how we think.’” She goes on using Jean Piaget's psychology discourse to discuss how children learn about computers and how this affects their minds. The Second Self was received well by critics and was praised for being “a very thorough and ambitious study.”
In Life on the Screen, Turkle discusses how emerging technology, specifically computers, affect the way we think and see ourselves as humans. She presents to us the different ways in which computers affect us, and how it has lead us to the now prevalent use of "cyberspace." Turkle suggests that assuming different personal identities in a MUD (i.e. computer fantasy game) may be therapeutic. She also considers the problems that arise when using MUDs. Turkle discusses what she calls women's "non-linear" approach to the technology, calling it "soft mastery" and "bricolage" (as opposed to the "hard mastery" of linear, abstract thinking and computer programming). She discusses problems that arise when children pose as adults online.

wn.com/Sherry_Turkle
Suzanne Massie
Suzanne Massie is an American author and played an important role in the relations between Ronald Reagan and the Soviet Union in the final years of the Cold War. Reagan first became interested in Massie when he read her book Land of the Firebird: The Beauty of Old Russia. He eventually had her visit the White House where she became an informal, back door, messenger with Gorbachev and his administration. She also asked Ronald Reagan to learn the now famous Russian phrase "doveryai, no proveryai".
In 1975, Suzanne Massie and her then-husband Robert K. Massie chronicled their experiences as the parents of a hemophiliac child and the significant differences between the American and French health-care systems in their jointly-written book, Journey. She subsequently married Seymour Papert.

wn.com/Suzanne_Massie
Terry Winograd
Terry Allen Winograd (born February 24, 1946, Takoma Park, Maryland) is an American professor of computer science at Stanford University, and co-director of the Stanford Human-Computer Interaction Group. He is known within the philosophy of mind and artificial intelligence fields for his work on natural language using the SHRDLU program.
SHRDLU was written as a PhD thesis at MIT in the years from 1968-70. In making the program Winograd was concerned with the problem of providing a computer with sufficient "understanding" to be able to use natural language. Winograd built a blocks world, restricting the program's intellectual world to a simulated "world of toy blocks". The program could accept commands such as, "Find a block which is taller than the one you are holding and put it into the box" and carry out the requested action using a simulated block-moving arm. The program could also respond verbally, for example, "I do not know which block you mean." The SHRDLU program can be viewed historically as one of the classic examples of how difficult it is for a programmer to build up a computer's semantic memory by hand and how limited or "brittle" such programs are.

wn.com/Terry_Winograd

Seymour Papert 1983

This is a piece of a 47 minute video...

published: 25 May 2007

author: Cynthia Solomon

Seymour Papert

A wonderful clip made for television of Seymour Papert's early work on using computers to ...

published: 18 Jun 2009

author: Seth Morabito

Seymour Papert

Explores the life and contributions of consttructionist Seymour Papert....

published: 26 Jun 2009

author: PrayForPlaguesx69

Seymour Papert Interview - One Laptop per Child (OLPC)

Interview with Seymour Papert - Speaking on behalf of the One Laptop per Child Foundation ...

published: 30 Nov 2007

author: OLPCFoundation

Seymour Papert on Idea Aversion

...

published: 22 Sep 2011

author: Stephen Downes

Why Learn Math and Science Seymour Papert

seymour papert...

published: 17 May 2009

author: Curt Heimbuck

Talk by Seymour Papert & Robin Jettinghoff

On April 28, 2004, Seymour Papert and Robin Jettinghoff gave a presentation at the Univers...

published: 02 Jul 2012

author: George Markowsky

Seymour Papert and Paulo Freire Debate Technology and the Future of Schools

Seymour Papert and Paulo Freire Debate Technology and the Future of Schools. Papert says t...

published: 17 May 2012

author: normfriesen

Um Encontro Inesquecível entre Paulo Freire e Seymour Papert

O Futuro da escola eo impacto dos novos meios de comunicação no modelo de escola atual. Um...

published: 14 Feb 2012

author: Alexandre Assemany da Guia

seymour papert en español

...

published: 27 May 2010

author: Miguel Pardo

Talking Turtle 2

The Open University and BBC on Papert and Logo...

published: 25 May 2007

author: Cynthia Solomon

seymour papert's principle.mp4

...

published: 10 Dec 2009

author: queenofmycastle8

Seymour Papert on a Bongo Board Poked by Cynthia Solomon

This piece of history from 1970 was sent to me by Hal Abelson...

published: 07 Jan 2009

author: Cynthia Solomon

Paulo Freire y Seymour Papert

...

published: 23 Apr 2009

author: Solonojo

<li class="playlistitemli thumbnail border_color">
        <div class="video_facebook">
            <a href="http://web.archive.org./web/20121222121606/http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://wn.com/seymour_papert&t=<%= title %>" title="Share this video" data-title="Share this video" target="_blank" style="target-name: new; target-new: tab;"></a>
        </div>

photo: AP / Carolyn Kaster

FILE - In this June 26, 2012 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks in Atlanta. The presidential race enters the sultry summer _ a final lull before a sprint to Election Day _ with President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney neck and neck and no sign that either can break away. Both sides have money concerns _ for all the flood of cash _ as well as political worries.

Obama promises gun control early next year

Sowetan Live

20 Dec 2012

Obama held a White House news conference on Wednesday to announce that Vice President Joe Biden will lead an interagency effort to craft new gun policies. The group is expected to offer its proposals in January. “We know this is a complex issue that stirs deeply held passions and political divides,” Obama said. “But the fact that this problem is complex can no longer be an excuse for doing nothing.” ... WAKE-UP CALL ... ....(size: 6.1Kb)

photo: AP / Fahd al-Bakoush

This still image included in a video obtained by the Associated Press from Fahd al-Bakoush, a freelance videographer and activist, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows the body of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens being moved by Libyan civilians trying to rescue him after gunmen and protesters rampaged through the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012. The group of Libyans had stumbled across Stevens' seemingly lifeless form inside a dark room and didn't know who he was, only that he was a foreigner, al-Bakoush and two other witnesses told the AP.

U.S. State Dept officials resign under pressure over Benghazi killings

Reuters

20 Dec 2012

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three senior U.S. State Department officials were asked to resign after an official inquiry harshly criticized their offices for failing to provide adequate security at the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, before it came under attack in September, a U.S. official said on Wednesday ... State Department officials declined to comment on the matter, saying it was a personnel issue ... Joint Chiefs of Staff ... facilities....(size: 5.4Kb)

photo: AP / Alfred de Montesquiou

In this May 12, 2010 photo, Malian troops and soldiers from other African countries train with the U.S. Special Forces in the Sahara Desert near the town of Gao in northeastern Mali.

U.N. OKs offensive to oust extremists in Mali

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

21 Dec 2012

UNITED NATIONS -- The U.N. Security Council on Thursday authorized military action to wrest northern Mali from the control of al-Qaida-linked extremists, but it demanded progress first on political reconciliation, elections and training African troops and police ... Instead, it set out benchmarks to be met before the start of offensive operations, starting with progress on a political roadmap to restore constitutional order ... U.N ... On Nov ... ....(size: 3.1Kb)

photo: AP / Narciso Contreras

In this Monday, Dec. 17, 2012 photo, a man runs between debris after a mortar shell hit a street killing several people in the Bustan Al-Qasr district of Aleppo, Syria.

U.N. seeks $1.5 billion to address Syria crisis

The Star

19 Dec 2012

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations appealed on Wednesday for $1.5 billion (920.1 million pounds) to provide life-saving aid to Syrians suffering from a "dramatically deteriorating" humanitarian situation ... "The magnitude of this humanitarian crisis is indisputable," said Radhouane Nouicer, U.N ... Inside Syria, U.N ... ....(size: 1.5Kb)

photo: AP / Ahn Young-joon

South Korea's president-elected Park Geun-hye speaks during a press conference at the headquarters of Saenuri Party in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012.

South Korea's first woman leader vows new North Korea effort

The Wichita Eagle

20 Dec 2012

SEOUL, South Korea — Park Geun-hye's election as South Korea's first female president could mean a new drive to start talks with bitter rival North Korea, though it's unclear how much further she will go than the hard-line incumbent, a member of her own conservative party ... On Thursday, Park mentioned the North Korean rocket launch during a nationally televised speech ... Ties between the Koreas plummeted during Lee's term ... ....(size: 4.5Kb)

timeline:
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001

Memo to Mayor Bloomberg: Let Them Make Games!

Huffington Post

13 Jan 2012

Not every student wants to go to college, nor is college right for everyone ... Let them make videogames!. Sound weird ... It's inspired by the cognitive research performed throughout the 1980s and 90s at the Harvard Graduate School of Education's Technology Center (ETC), led by David Perkins and Howard Gardner, and by the Epistemology-and-Learning Research Team (E&L;) formed by Seymour Papert at Nicholas Negroponte's MIT Media Lab ...   ... ....(size: 7.3Kb)

In OpenWorld Learning's after-school program, computers build confidence

Denver Post

29 Dec 2011

Do more with what already exists ... "We believe ... OWL students construct their projects in a computer coding software program called Microworlds, which was developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Seymour Papert. Papert, a retired mathematician and an early pioneer of artificial intelligence, is known for his extensive research on how children learn and his belief that computers can enhance that process ... Weston Gentry ... ....(size: 4.1Kb)

The Seneca Effect: Why Decline Is Faster Than Growth

Business Insider

31 Aug 2011

Ugo Bardi. URL. Ugo Bardi is a professor of chemistry and an analyst at University of Florence in Italy Recent Posts Drumbeat. August 31, 2011 The Seneca Effect. why decline is faster than growth Natural Gas ... Lucius Anneaus Seneca, Letters to Lucilius, n. 91. Original article ... Rather, we may see a decline so fast that we can only call it "collapse." ... 2010) ... "Mind Sized" is a term invented by Seymour Papert in his book "Mind Storms" (1980) ... DOI ... ....(size: 21.5Kb)

IEEE Computer Society Magazine Honors Artificial Intelligence Leaders

Yahoo Daily News

24 Aug 2011

Inductees into the inaugural IEEE Intelligent Systems Hall of Fame include Tim Berners-Lee, Noam Chomsky, Douglas Engelbart, and other well-known artificial intelligence pioneers ... Marvin Minsky, Toshiba Professor of Media Arts and Sciences and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, who developed the Society of Mind theory with Seymour Papert and many other advances in cognitive theory;. Nils J ... ### ... 1 - 4 of 34....(size: 10.0Kb)

timeline:
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001

Seymour Papert
Seymour Papert in 2006
Born	(1928-02-29) February 29, 1928 (age 84) Pretoria, South Africa
Residence	United States of America
Nationality	American
Fields	Cognitive science Education Mathematics Computer science
Institutions	MIT
Alma mater	University of the Witwatersrand Cambridge University University of Geneva
Doctoral students	Claudia Urrea Marina Bers David Cavallo Idit Harel Caperton Ricki Goldman Carl Hewitt Fred Martin Mitchel Resnick David Williamson Shaffer Gerald Jay Sussman Uri Wilensky Terry Winograd
Known for	Artificial intelligence Logo programming language OLPC

Seymour Papert (born February 29, 1928 in Pretoria, South Africa) is an MIT mathematician, computer scientist, and educator. He is one of the pioneers of artificial intelligence, as well as an inventor of the Logo programming language.

1 Early years and education
2 Career
3 Research and theories
4 Influence and awards
5 Personal life
6 Accident in Hanoi
7 Selected bibliography
8 See also
9 References
10 External links

Early years and education [link]

Papert attended the University of the Witwatersrand, receiving a B.A. in 1949 and a PhD in mathematics in 1952. He then went on to receive another PhD, also in mathematics, at Cambridge University in 1959.^[1] He was a leading figure in the revolutionary socialist circle around Socialist Review while living in London in the 1950s.^[2]

Career [link]

Papert worked as a researcher in a variety of places, including St. John's College, Cambridge, the Henri Poincare Institute at the University of Paris, the University of Geneva and the National Physical Laboratory in London before becoming a research associate at MIT in 1963.^[1] He held this position until 1967, when he became professor of applied math and director of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, until 1981; he also served as Cecil & Ida Green professor of education at MIT from 1974-1981.^[1]

Research and theories [link]

Papert worked on learning theories, and is known for focusing on the impact of new technologies on learning in general and in schools as learning organizations in particular.

Constructionism [link]

At MIT, Papert went on to create the Epistemology and Learning Research Group at the MIT Architecture Machine Group which later became the MIT Media Lab.^[3] Here, he was the developer of an original and highly influential theory on learning called constructionism, built upon the work of Jean Piaget in Constructivism learning theories. Papert worked with Jean Piaget at the University of Geneva from 1958 to 1963^[4] and is widely considered the most brilliant and successful of Piaget's proteges; Piaget once said that "no one understands my ideas as well as Papert." Papert has rethought how schools should work based on these theories of learning.

Logo [link]

Papert used Piaget's work in his development of the Logo programming language whilst at MIT. He created Logo as a tool to improve the way that children think and solve the problems. A small robot called the "Logo Turtle" was developed and children used it to solve problems. A main purpose of the Logo Foundation research group is to strengthen the ability to learn knowledge. Papert insists a simple language or program that children can learn—like Logo—can also have advanced functionality for expert users.

Other work [link]

As part of his work with technology, Papert has been a proponent of the Knowledge Machine. He is also currently one of the principals for the One Laptop Per Child initiative to manufacture and distribute The Children's Machine in developing nations.

Papert has also collaborated with Lego on their Logo-programmable Lego Mindstorms robotics kits.

Influence and awards [link]

Papert's work has been highly influential to other researchers in the fields of education and computer science. He influenced the work of Uri Wilensky in the design of NetLogo and collaborated with him on the study of knowledge restructurations, as well as the work of Andrea diSessa and the development of dynaturtles. In 1981, Papert along with several others in the Logo group at MIT, started Logo Computer Systems Inc., of which he was Board Chair for over 20 years. Working with LCSI, Papert designed a number of award-winning programs, including LogoWriter^[5] and Lego/Logo (marketed as Lego Mindstorms). He also influenced the research of Idit Harel Caperton, coauthoring articles and the book Constructionism and chairing the advisory board of the company MaMaMedia. He also influenced Alan Kay and the Dynabook concept, and worked with Kay on various projects.

Papert won a Guggenheim fellowship in 1980, a Marconi International fellowship in 1981,^[6] the Software Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994, and the Smithsonian Award from Computerworld in 1997.^[7] Papert has been called by Marvin Minsky "the greatest living mathematics educator."^[8]

Personal life [link]

Papert's third wife was Sherry Turkle, and together they wrote the influential paper "Epistemological Pluralism and the Revaluation of the Concrete." ^[9]

Papert is married to Suzanne Massie Papert, who is a Russian scholar and author of Pavlovsk, Life of a Russian Palace and Land of the Firebird.^[10]

Accident in Hanoi [link]

While attending the 17th ICMI Study conference in Hanoi, Papert (78) was struck by a motorcycle while crossing a road near his hotel on Tuesday December 5, 2006. He underwent brain surgery at the French Hospital of Hanoi on Wednesday December 6 to remove the blood clot that had formed. By the evening of Tuesday December 12, he was in stable but critical condition. Experts fearing a deterioration if a MEDEVAC could not be flown as quickly as possible to either Paris or Boston, the only two Hospital locations with the necessary expertise for the much needed specialist neuro-intensive care. There was at the time no mission compliant, long range Ambulance ICU Jet anywhere available including, except for one of four Swiss Air Ambulance Challenger Jets, based half way around the globe at the REGA HQ, Zurich International Airport in Switzerland. ^[11]

On December 16th, 2006 he was transferred by the highly specialized, ICU equipped, Swiss Air Ambulance Bombardier Challenger Jet http://www.rega.ch/, reportedly made possible and organized in a bold and daring action by the Swiss banker, Pascal Najadi, who was able to convince the REGA Flight Operations over the phone from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, (perhaps because he was an active patron of the REGA Swiss Air Ambulance) to swiftly approve the decision to fly without any payment guarantees and assemble at highest possible speed within 48 hours the necessary flight plan, specialized doctors, logistics and Vietnam airspace (Northern Sector) entry clearances for the Jet to take off from Zurich HQ, via Lahore to Hanoi, then to proceed with the critical patient in full ICU care of specialized Swiss Doctors and immediate family on board , via Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Edmonton to Boston, Massachusetts, where the plane was met by US Customs (thanks to the help of Senator John Kerry). Then Prof. Papert was transferred straight from the tarmac to the Mass General Hospital at the neuro-intensive care unit, attended by Dr. William Curry, Dr. Lee Schwam and Dr. Matsuza for immediate and critical specialist care.

The highly experienced Swiss flight crew of the Swiss Ambulance Challenger Jet had to pay special attention to ultra soft landings at fuel stops and special climb step procedures, not to harm the patients critical condition during the long haul transfer flight. The doctors concluded that the patient was extremly stable during the flight thanks to the cerful handling of the flight operation. The only other capable hospital in the world equipped for such critical specialized neuro-intensive care like the one needed in Prof. Papert's case, was the American Hospital in Paris, but Boston was chosen due to the proximity to his home in Maine.

On January 23, 2007 he was then transferred to a hospital in his home state of Maine. In March 2007, he suffered an attack of septicemia, which required treatment in the hospital until May. Another problem occurred in April, when he had to have a heart valve replaced due to the septicemia. As of 2008^[update], he has fully recovered from the septicemia and heart operation, and can think clearly, walk "almost unaided", and communicate. However, he still has "some complicated speech problems", and is still undergoing extensive rehabilitation, although he is at home.^[12]

His rehabilitation team is using some of the very principles of experiential, hands-on learning which he pioneered to aid him in recovery. ^[13]

Selected bibliography [link]

Books

Counter-free automata, 1971, ISBN 0-262-13076-9
Perceptrons, (with Marvin Minsky), MIT Press, 1969 (Enlarged edition, 1988), ISBN 0-262-63111-3
Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas, 1980, ISBN 0-465-04674-6
Papert, S. & Harel, I. (eds). (1991) Constructionism: research reports and essays 1985 - 1990 by the Epistemology and Learning Research Group, the Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ablex Pub. Corp, Norwood, NJ.
The Children's Machine: Rethinking School in the Age of the Computer, 1992, ISBN 0-465-01063-6
The Connected Family: Bridging the Digital Generation Gap, 1996, ISBN 1-56352-335-3

References [link]

^ ^a ^b ^c Papert, Seymour A. in American Men and Women of Science, R.R. Bowker. (1998-99, 20th ed). p. 1056.
^ Jim Higgins: "More Years for the Locust: The Origins of the SWP" Published by IS Group, London, 1997. Chapter 5 page 1 "Another South African, Seymour Papert – a man of considerable talent ... was recruited by Kidron and, for a few years, he added considerably to the impact of Socialist Review. His review of John Strachey’s, at that time very influential book, Contemporary Capitalism, for example, is an excellent attack on Strachey and, incidentally, one of the better statements on the permanent arms economy." "'More Years for the Locus' reproduced in the Marxist Internet Archive"
^ Epistemology and Learning homepage
^ Papert page at MIT Media Lab
^ see this history
^ Marconi Foundation - the Marconi Fellows. Accessed March 28, 2009.
^ Henderson, Harry. 2003. A to Z of Computer Scientists. New York: Facts on File. p. 208.
^ From the cover of Mindstorms. (date needed).
^ Turkle, Sherry; Papert, Seymour (1992). "Epistemological Pluralism and Revaluation of the Concrete". Journal of Mathematical Behavior 11 (1).
^ Suzanne Massie's website. Accessed April 19, 2009.
^ Megan Tench (2006-12-08). "Top MIT scientist injured in Vietnam". Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/12/08/top_mit_scientist_injured_in_vietnam/.
^ thelearningbarn.org (copy) (aka. the Seymour Papert Institute) (verified through the IRS as being a 501(c)3, as they claim)
^ Linda Matchan (2008-07-12). "In search of a beautiful mind". Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/articles/2008/07/12/in_search_of_a_beautiful_mind/. Retrieved 2008-07-16.

External links [link]

Biographical

Seymour Papert short biography at MIT
Professor Seymour Papert: Papert.org home page; includes a list of works by Papert
Planet Papert articles by and about Papert
Seymour Papert at the Open Directory Project
25 years EIAH’’, colloque EIAH 2003 [1]

Work:

Logo Foundation
LEGO Mindstorms
Logo Computer Systems Inc. firm cofounded by Papert

Interviews:

Interview from 11 July 2004, on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation network
Video Interview with Seymour Papert from the Association for Computing Machinery
Conférence vidéo, ‘’colloque EIAH 2003 [2]

Persondata
Name	Papert, Seymour
Alternative names
Short description	Cognitive science, Education, Mathematics, Computer science
Date of birth	March 1, 1928
Place of birth	Pretoria, South Africa
Date of death
Place of death

This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymour_Papert

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.

Branches of Mathematics

Pure mathematics

Applied mathematics

Related Topics

Papert, Seymour Filmography

Famous quotes by Seymour Papert:

"None of that's there in an African village. How can we give it to them?"

"It will change . . . the way children everywhere think about themselves in relation to the world."

"I think there is good reason to believe that if everything were open, fewer bad things could happen. So give everyone the tools to observe and communicate what is happening."

"Our interest is really in Third World development. I believe that it's essential to solving the problems of poverty, violence, and environment, to have better education."

"The role of the teacher is to create the conditions for invention rather than provide ready-made knowledge."

"None of that's there in an African village. How can we give it to them?"

"It will change . . . the way children everywhere think about themselves in relation to the world."

"I think there is good reason to believe that if everything were open, fewer bad things could happen. So give everyone the tools to observe and communicate what is happening."

"Our interest is really in Third World development. I believe that it's essential to solving the problems of poverty, violence, and environment, to have better education."

"The role of the teacher is to create the conditions for invention rather than provide ready-made knowledge."

Make changes yourself !

Contents

Early years and education [link]

Career [link]

Research and theories [link]

Constructionism [link]

Logo [link]

Other work [link]

Influence and awards [link]

Personal life [link]

Accident in Hanoi [link]

Selected bibliography [link]

See also [link]

References [link]

External links [link]

http://wn.com/Seymour_Papert

Related pages:

http://fr.wn.com/Seymour Papert

http://pt.wn.com/Seymour Papert

http://ru.wn.com/Пейперт, Сеймур

http://de.wn.com/Seymour Papert

http://it.wn.com/Seymour Papert

http://pl.wn.com/Seymour Papert

http://es.wn.com/Seymour Papert