Dittert, Nadine, Katterfeldt, Eva-Sophie, and Schelhowe, Heidi. “Designing Digital Fabrication Learning Environments for Bildung: Implications from Ten Years of Physical Computing Workshops.” Digital Fabrication in Education, special issue of International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, vol. 5, Sept. 2015, pp. 3-10, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212868915000112?via%3Dihub. Accessed 28 Nov. 2017.

This article presents three principal ideas, identified after ten years of research, for creating constructionist learning environments, or “deep, sustainable learning” [bildung] (Dittert 3), with digital technologies. Schelhowe’s team compares and contrasts the use of digital fabrication technology (3D printers & laser cutters) and programmable construction kits (LilyPad Arduino & MaKey-MaKey) with examples of workshops and children’s original project creations.

Dr. Heidi Schelhowe leads a team at the University of Bremen in Germany, Digitale Medien in der Bildung (dimeb), that researches teaching in computer science and media informatics to help bridge the gap between pedagogy and technology culture (dimeb par. 1). Dr. Dittert and Dr. Katterfeldt are both dimeb Fellows assisting with research on Schelhowe’s team. The International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction is an online, subscription-based journal and “a forum to communicate original, high-quality research in child-computer interaction and interaction design and children” (International par. 1).

This resource documents the possibilities for, and challenges of, using digital fabrication technology in constructionist learning environments. In addition to insightful research, the article provides examples of unique, youth maker projects and cites a wealth of constructionist-rooted resources to explore. Educators looking to incorporate maker education and/or constructionist ideas into their classrooms will find this article helpful and inspiring.

Eisenberg, Michael, et al. “Machines and Minds: The New Cognitive Science, and the Potential Evolution of Children’s Intuitions about Thinking.” International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, vol. 14, Oct. 2017, pp. 1-4, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212868917300041?via%3Dihub. Accessed 2 Dec. 2017.

Eisenberg’s article reflects on Papert’s constructionist ideas presented in Mindstorms nearly forty years ago, and identifies important evolutions in technology and cognitive science since the seminal work. Eisenberg proposes open-ended sketches for modern-day projects to inspire thought and research for implementing new, relevant methods that remain true to Papert’s often overlooked, yet most important, ideas about children, thinking, and learning.

Dr. Michael Eisenberg is a professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder in the Department of Computer Science, the Institute of Cognitive Science, and the Center for Lifelong Learning and Design. Eisenberg and his wife Ann both direct the CU Boulder Craft Tech Lab that experiments with new technologies to expand the possibilities for children’s craft activities by creating “craft objects with embedded intelligence” (CU Boulder par. 1).

This resource presents a current view of constructionism and provokes thought for future constructionist visions of learning environments rooted in the ideas of Seymour Papert.

Falbel, Aaron. Constructionism: Tools to Build (and Think) With. Toronto: LEGO DACTA, 1993, www.issuu.com/luys/docs/constructionism_eng. Web. Accessed 8 Dec. 2017. www.learning.media.mit.edu/courses/mas713/readings/Constructionism%20-%20Falbel.pdf. Web. Accessed 8 Dec. 2017.

This is a brief, six-page article that presents Papert’s "education theory" (Falbel) of constructionism and how it relates to Piaget’s learning theory of constructivism. It briefly contrasts constructionism to differing opinions of learning and offers clear examples for creating a constructionist learning environment. The article also touches on the anecdotes featured in the writings of Seymour Papert and provides a short bibliography for further reading.

At the time this article was written, Aaron Falbel was a research assistant at MIT under the direction of Dr. Seymour Papert. The publisher name, LEGO Dacta, was assigned to LEGO’s department of educational products in 1989 — the same year Dr. Papert became LEGO Professor of Learning Research (1980's).

Falbel's article provides a concise, informative introduction to Papert’s constructionism. It lists construction materials to foster creativity and discusses ideal traits for a good learning environment. Although this resource is no longer in print, digital copies are available at the provided links.

Papert, Seymour. “Eight Ideas Behind the Constructionist Learning Lab.” 1999. An Investigation of Constructionism in the Maine Youth Center, by Gary Stager, Diss. University of Melbourne, 2007. www.stager.org/articles/8bigideas.pdf. Accessed 2 Dec. 2017.

This set of Constructionist principles serves as a guide to the learner as they explore and construct knowledge. These guidelines represent a summary of the ideas that Papert had professed about learning throughout his career. Seymour Papert drafted these eight powerful ideas when developing the Constructionist Learning Lab at the Maine Youth Center in 1999 (Stager 2).

Seymour Papert, along with Gary Stager and David Cavallo, created the Constructionist Learning Lab at the Maine Youth Center in 1999 (Stager 2). In 2007, Gary Stager documented his years of research on this project with Papert in his dissertation at the University of Melboure, An Investigation of Constructionism in the Maine Youth Center. Stager also included these ideas in chapter five of his book with Sylvia Martinez, Invent to Learn.

Makers, tinkerers, and advocates for Paperts’s ideas about learning celebrate these eight constructionist principles by featuring them on the walls of makerspaces, fab labs, and classrooms. Makerspace for Education created a free 11” x 17” poster featuring these eight big ideas for anyone to download at http://www.makerspaceforeducation.com/paperts-big-ideas.html.

Papert, Seymour. "What's the Big Idea? Toward a Pedagogy of Idea Power." IBM Systems Journal, vol. 39, no. 3.4, 2000, pp. 720-729, www.llk.media.mit.edu/courses/readings/Papert-Big-Idea.pdf. Web. Accessed 10 Dec. 2017.

Seymour Papert displays his mastery of analogies as he addresses the issues of school culture, a culture of "idea aversion," which favors a pedagogy of transmitted facts and skills rather than a pedagogy of powerful ideas. Papert is not hopeful of school reform in this piece but is hopeful of change. He poetically illustrates anecdotes, and orchestrates a theme of probability and evolution suggesting school culture will inevitably need to adapt to a rapidly evolving society of new technologies and new structures for engaging with powerful ideas.

Dr. Seymour Papert was a mathematician who worked with the Swiss philosopher and psychologist Jean Piaget at the University of Geneva from 1958-1963. Papert augmented Piaget’s learning theory of constructivism when he proposed his own learning theory and "strategy for education" (Resnick 1) called constructionism. Papert developed the first computer programming language for children called Logo (MIT Professor), co-founded the MIT Media Lab in 1985, and directed the Epistemology and Learning Research Group at MIT until the late 1990s (MIT Professor).

Seymour Papert expands upon his concept of powerful ideas which he feels is the most ignored, yet most important objective he expressed about learning in his seminal work, Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas. This is a must-read for educators or anyone working with children in a learning environment.

WORKS CITED

"1980's — The LEGO History." The LEGO Group, 2017, www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/lego-group/the_lego_history/1980. Web. Accessed 7 Dec. 2017.

CU Boulder Craft Tech Lab, 2017, www.cucraftlab.org. Web. Accessed 8 Dec. 2017.

"dimeb — Digitale Medien in der Bildung." University of Bremen, 2017, www.dimeb.informatik.uni-bremen.de. Web. Accessed 8 Dec. 2017.

Dittert, Nadine, Katterfeldt, Eva-Sophie, and Schelhowe, Heidi. “Designing Digital Fabrication Learning Environments for Bildung: Implications from Ten Years of Physical Computing Workshops.” Digital Fabrication in Education, special issue of International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, vol. 5, Sept. 2015, p. 3, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212868915000112?via%3Dihub. Accessed 28 Nov. 2017.

Falbel, Aaron. Constructionism: Tools to Build (and Think) With. Toronto: LEGO DACTA, 1993, www.issuu.com/luys/docs/constructionism_eng. Web. Accessed 8 Dec. 2017. www.learning.media.mit.edu/courses/mas713/readings/Constructionism%20-%20Falbel.pdf. Web. Accessed 8 Dec. 2017.

"International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction." Elsevier, 2017, www.journals.elsevier.com/international-journal-of-child-computer-interaction/. Web. Accessed 8 Dec. 2017.

MIT Media Lab. "Professor Emeritus Seymour Papert, Pioneer of Constructionist Learning, Dies at 88." MIT News, 1 Aug. 2016, www.news.mit.edu/2016/seymour-papert-pioneer-of-constructionist-learning-dies-0801. Web. Accessed 8 Dec. 2017.

Resnick, Mitchel. Introduction. Constructionism in Practice: Designing, Thinking and Learning in a Digital World, by Mitchel Resnick and Yasmin Kafai. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 1996, p. 1.

Stager, Gary. "Papertian Constructionism and the Design of Productive Contexts for Learning." Plenary Session Paper — EuroLogoX. Warsaw, Poland, August 2005, p. 2. www.stager.org/articles/eurologo2005.pdf. Web. Accessed 5 Dec. 2017.