Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas Part I

Introduction:

Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas is a must read for anyone, especially educators, who think that coding and programming are only for computer science engineers. When Papert wrote Mindstorms in 1980 (revised and republished in 1993) he was at the forefront with his beliefs of how computers and technology in the classroom would change how students learn.

Who is Seymour Papert and What's This Book About?:

“[There are] two central themes of [this] book . . . children can learn to use computers in a masterful way and that learning to use computers can change the way they learn everything else.” (pg. vii) Papert had the opportunity to work closely with Jean Piaget earlier in his career from 1959 until 1964 at the University of Genova at Piaget’s Center for Genetic Epistemology. From there, in 1964, he used his time as a professor of math and the co-director of MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory to build on Jean Piaget’s framework of constructive learning theory to develop his own model on how children learn which he aptly named constructivism. Papert’s constructivism learning theory believes that students learn best by discovery and use information they already know to acquire more knowledge. Participation in project-based learning is essential in order to make connections between new ideas and previously-obtained knowledge. The case studies Papert presents in Mindstorms highlight the benefits of his learning theory along with the addition of computers and coding.