Programming Revisited The Educational Value of Computer Programming

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Programming Revisited - The Educational Value of
Computer Programming
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Whither Programming?
LOGO?

• Havent we been here before?
• Logo Born 1967, Reborn 1980, Died mid-80s?
• Logo Reincarnated - Extending the ideas to new
  domains
• LEGO/Logo
• StarLogo
• Microworlds
• Hyperstudio

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Creating Magicians

• Any sufficiently advanced technology is
  indistinguishable from magic - Clarke
• Why learn to do magic?
• Thinking about thinking
• Learning to think
• Learning by doing (constructivism/constructionism)
  
• Learning problem solving/mathematics
• Learner-centered learning
• Speaking the new Latin
• Technological fluency
• Empowering kids
• Producing not consuming

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Riding the Technology Wave

• So why has programming left kid computer culture?
• Consumption - Internet, Games, Audio
• Creation Flash, Photoshop, iMovie
• Programming - ???
• What good is programming now?

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What Does Programming Add?

• Implementing interactivity
• Modeling behavior
• Augmenting media creation to make it more
  interesting
• Making compelling games
• Controlling and manipulating information/data
• Diving deeper into scientific phenomena
• Creating and experimenting with simulations as
  authentic scientific practice

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Whats Next?

• Andrea diSessa Boxer
• Eric Klopfer/Andrew Begel StarLogo TNG
• Mitchel Resnick/John Maloney Scratch
• Chris Hancock (Turtl Studos) - Flogo