Mitchel ResnickMitchel Resnick (born June 12, 1956) is LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research, Director of the Okawa Center, and Director of the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab. , Resnick serves as head of the Media Arts and Sciences academic program, which grants master's degrees and Ph.D.s 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.
MIT Media LabThe MIT Media Lab is a research laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, growing out of MIT's Architecture Machine Group in the School of Architecture. Its research does not restrict to fixed academic disciplines, but draws from technology, media, science, art, and design. , Media lab's research groups include neurobiology, biologically inspired fabrication, socially engaging robots, emotive computing, bionics, and hyperinstruments.
Etoys (programming language)Etoys is a child-friendly computer environment and object-oriented prototype-based programming language for use in education. Etoys is a media-rich authoring environment with a scripted object model for many different objects that runs on different platforms and is free and open source. Squeak was originally developed at Apple in 1996 by Dan Ingalls. Squeak is a Smalltalk implementation, object-oriented, class-based, and reflective, derived from Smalltalk-80 at Apple Computer.
AgentSheetsAgentSheets was one of the first modern block-based programming language for children. The idea of AgentSheets was to overcome syntactic challenges found in common text-based programming languages by using drag-and-drop mechanisms conceptualizing commands such as conditions and actions as editable blocks that could be composed into programs. Ideas such as this are used in various other programming languages, such as Scratch though it does cost money to use most of the blocks.
StarLogoStarLogo is an agent-based simulation language developed by Mitchel Resnick, Eric Klopfer, and others at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab and Scheller Teacher Education Program in Massachusetts. It is an extension of the Logo programming language, a dialect of Lisp. Designed for education, StarLogo can be used by students to model or simulate the behavior of decentralized systems. The first StarLogo ran on a Connection Machine 2 parallel computer. A subsequent version ran on Macintosh computers.
Constructionism (learning theory)Constructionist learning is the creation by learners of mental models to understand the world around them. Constructionism advocates student-centered, discovery learning where students use what they already know, to acquire more knowledge. Students learn through participation in project-based learning where they make connections between different ideas and areas of knowledge facilitated by the teacher through coaching rather than using lectures or step-by-step guidance.
SqueakSqueak is an object-oriented, class-based, and reflective programming language. It was derived from Smalltalk-80 by a group that included some of Smalltalk-80's original developers, initially at Apple Computer, then at Walt Disney Imagineering, where it was intended for use in internal Disney projects. The group would later go on to be supported by HP labs, SAP, and most recently, Y Combinator. Squeak runs on a virtual machine (VM), allowing for a high degree of portability.
Visual programming languageIn computing, a visual programming language (visual programming system, VPL, or, VPS) or block coding is a programming language that lets users create programs by manipulating program elements graphically rather than by specifying them textually. A VPL allows programming with visual expressions, spatial arrangements of text and graphic symbols, used either as elements of syntax or secondary notation.
Lego MindstormsLego Mindstorms (sometimes stylized as LEGO MINDSTORMS) is a discontinued hardware and software structure which develops programmable robots based on Lego building blocks. Each version includes an intelligent brick (or hub), a set of modular sensors and motors, and parts from the Lego Technic line to create the mechanical systems. The system is controlled by the intelligent brick, which act as the brain of the mechanical system.
Logo (programming language)Logo is an educational programming language, designed in 1967 by Wally Feurzeig, Seymour Papert, and Cynthia Solomon. Logo is not an acronym: the name was coined by Feurzeig while he was at Bolt, Beranek and Newman, and derives from the Greek logos, meaning word or thought. A general-purpose language, Logo is widely known for its use of turtle graphics, in which commands for movement and drawing produced line or vector graphics, either on screen or with a small robot termed a turtle.
