Seymour Papert (born March 1, 1928 Pretoria, South Africa) is an MIT mathematician, computer scientist, and prominent educator. He is one of the pioneers of artificial intelligence, as well as an inventor of the Logo programming language (1968).
About Papert
- The developer of an interesting and original vision on learning called Constructionism, built upon the work of Jean Piaget (Constructivism). Rethinks how schools should work based on these theories of learning. Also focuses on the impact of new technologies on learning in general and schools as a learning organisation in particular.
- Seymour Papert used Piaget's work while developing the Logo programming language. He created Logo as a tool to improve the way that children think and solve the problems. A small robot called “Logo Turtle” was developed and children have been encouraged to solve the problem with Logo turtle. A main purpose of the Logo Foundation *research group is to strengthen the ability to learn the knowledge. Seymour Papert insists a language or program that children can learn does not have to lack functionality for expert users.
- Papert is one of the principals for the One Laptop Per Child initiative to manufacture and distribute the laptop" target="_blank" >* in developing nations.
- Has been called (by Marvin Minsky) "the greatest living mathematics educator" of Mindstorms
- A proponent of the Knowledge Machine.
- Worked with Jean Piaget during the 1960 and is widely considered the most brilliant and successful of Piaget's proteges. Piaget once said that "no one understand my ideas as well as Papert." Observation
- Influenced Alan Kay and the Dynabook concept.
- Created the Epistemology & Learning Research Group and the MIT Media Lab
- Influenced the research of Idit Harel Caperton - collaborated on research grants and published together articles, and the book Constructionism; and has been the Advisory Board Chair of her company MaMaMedia.
- A collaborator with LEGO on their Logo-programmable Lego Mindstorms robotics kits.
- Influenced the work of Uri Wilensky in the design of NetLogo and collaborated with him on the study of knowledge restructurations.
- Influenced the work of Andrea diSessa and the development of dynaturtles.
- Was a leading figure in the revolutionary socialist circle around Socialist Review while living in London in the 1950s.
Books by Papert
- Counter-free automata, 1971, ISBN 0262130769
- Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas, 1980, ISBN 0465046746
- Perceptrons, (with Marvin Minsky), MIT Press, 1969 (Enlarged edition, 1988), ISBN 0262631113
- The Children's Machine: Rethinking School in the Age of the Computer, 1992, ISBN 0465010636
- The Connected Family: Bridging the Digital Generation Gap, 1996, ISBN 1563523353
More on
[ Seymour Papert ]
People :: Artificial Intelligence
Minsky, Marvin :: Pioneers
Papert, Seymour - Twitter SearchCR 2.0 Forum: Who "wrote the book" on implementing technology in schools?:
Seymour Papert is oft.. http://bit.ly/1SoJcMclassroom20 (Classroom 2.0) Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:00:56 -0000
CR 2.0 Forum: Who "wrote the book" on implementing technology in schools?:
Seymour Papert is oft.. http://bit.ly/1SoJcM
BASIC is to computer programming as QWERTY is to typing. -- Seymour Papertwebgeekcom (web-geek.com) Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:49:16 -0000
BASIC is to computer programming as QWERTY is to typing. -- Seymour Papert
@d_swan re:use of lego mindstorms, Seymour Papert is one of my heroes, he's still at MIT I think. - v. jealous of your trip.zz_james (james) Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:34:54 -0000
@d_swan re:use of lego mindstorms, Seymour Papert is one of my heroes, he's still at MIT I think. - v. jealous of your trip.
fie7Bou. #password - BASIC is to computer programming as QWERTY is to typing.
-- Seymour Papertrandompassword (Random Password) Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:10:02 -0000
fie7Bou. #password - BASIC is to computer programming as QWERTY is to typing.
-- Seymour Papert
programming languages should have a "low floor" and a "high ceiling" -- Seymour Papertthiago_silva (Thiago Silva) Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:15:53 -0000
programming languages should have a "low floor" and a "high ceiling" -- Seymour Papert
Subscribe to Papert,_Seymour RSS feed 
ConnectedFamily.com - Companion web site to Papert's new book, The Connected Family: Bridging the Digital Generation Gap, Longstreet Press, 1996; for parents and teachers (and kids) interested in the profound changes in learning brought about by the explosion of computers in the home.
MIT Coop: Seymour Papert - Papert's 'Faculty Author Listing' of an online bookstore for the MIT community.
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MIT Media Lab: Seymour Papert - Papert was a founding faculty member of the Media Lab, and now works there part-time. The Media Lab site has been hard to reach lately and is often inaccessible, but be patient and keep at it: it is well worthwhile.
Papert.org: Professor Seymour Papert - Expert on how technology can provide new ways to learn, his contributions go beyond education: mathematician and cofounder with Marvin Minsky of MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab, founding faculty member of MIT Media Lab, where he works now. Worked for many years with Jean Piaget at University of Geneva, Switzerland.
School's Out? A Conversation with Seymour Papert - Interview at The Matrix: MEME 2.13. Treats Papert's favorite topics: children, computers and the end of schools as we know them.
The Children's Machine by Seymour Papert - One educator's positive review of Papert's book: '[His] philosophy of learning contrasts sharply with his depiction of schools' epistemology'.