<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:st1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 11 (filtered medium)">
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="country-region"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="place"/>
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }
</style>
<![endif]-->
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:StoneSerif;
panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:StoneSerif-Italic;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0cm;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
p.favStyle, li.favStyle, div.favStyle
{margin:0cm;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
line-height:150%;
font-size:18.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:#33CCCC;
font-weight:bold;
font-style:italic;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.EmailStyle18
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:Arial;
color:windowtext;}
@page Section1
{size:595.3pt 841.9pt;
margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
-->
</style>
</head>
<body lang=EN-AU link=blue vlink=purple>
<div class=Section1>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>I sent something through yesterday re <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Kent</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s
questions about girls in IT. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>It hasn’t appeared – maybe because I added a
largish attachment <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Anyway, here’s another link I found yesterday that
might be of interest - <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>paper is sub titled : “Using the Storytelling
Alice programming environment to create computer-animated movies inspires
middle school girls’ interest in learning to program computers.” <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><a href="http://www.thinkingcurriculum.com/alice.pdf">www.thinkingcurriculum.com/alice.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>(having a student login at a uni opens up amazing journal resources
over the web – seems nearly all journals have been digitised – back
issues and all <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Be worth schools having an account) <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>it talks about the overlap between animation and programming
and the appeal in this approach – appeals to me as well ! <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>also a copy and paste of whats I sent yesterday : <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Sherry Turkle did some pioneering work on
computer cultures, gender, etc <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I think it would be fair to describe her
as a feminist orientated scholar; <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>She has some powerful arguments in favour
of programming; and critiques of its general removal from school curriculum
over the last 20 years<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Here’s an excerpt from the 20<sup>th</sup>
anniversary edition of the “Second Self : Computers and the human
spirit”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>(in other work with Papert, they looked at
how gender interacted with programming style and knowledge construction <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I worked in a girls school for quite a
while and agree with Rachel’s observations about preferred activities<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>But seems pretty crucial to me that we
offer programming in accessible forms and styles as well<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>(while I’m on that – here’s
a review of introductory programming languages -<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>“Lowering the Barriers to
Programming: A Taxonomy of Programming Environments and Languages for
Novice Programmers” <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>looks at about 200 of them <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><a
href="http://www.thinkingcurriculum.com/lowerbarrier.pdf">http://www.thinkingcurriculum.com/lowerbarrier.pdf</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Turkle : <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>In </span></font><i><font face=StoneSerif-Italic><span
style='font-family:StoneSerif-Italic;font-style:italic'>The Second Self </span></font></i><font
face=StoneSerif><span style='font-family:StoneSerif'>I report on my studies of
children learning Logo. Their<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>styles of programming were varied and revealing. The
computer, as I have<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>said, served as a Rorschach, and programming was one of
the most powerful<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>manifestations of its projective power. Twenty years
later, programming<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>is no longer taught much in standard classrooms,
relegated for the<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>most part to special after-school computer clubs. These
days, educators<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>most often think of computer literacy as the ability to
use the computer<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>as an information appliance for such purposes as word
processing, running<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>simulations, accessing educational CD-ROMs, navigating
the Internet, and<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>using presentation software such as PowerPoint. But the
question remains<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>whether mastery of these skills should be the goal of
computer education.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>Do they constitute computer literacy?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>One unhappy seventh-grade teacher concurred,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>“It’s not my job to instruct children in
the use of an appliance and then<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>to leave it at that.” These teachers were
struggling toward an argument for<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>a certain kind of “computational
exceptionalism.” It takes as a given that<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>people once knew how their cars, televisions, or
telephones worked and<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>don’t know this any more, but that in the case of
mechanical technology,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>such losses are acceptable. It insists, however, that
ignorance about the fundamentals<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>of computation comes at too high a price. One teacher
put it<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>this way: “Children know that the telephone is a
mechanism and that they<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>control it. But it’s not enough to have that kind
of understanding about<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>the computer. You have to know how a simulation works.
You have to<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>know what an algorithm is.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>In the nearly ten years since I recorded these
conversations, educational<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>advocates for computational transparency have, in large
measure, lost their<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>battle. Educators who want to demystify the computer
face a new generation<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>of children that no longer finds enough mystery in the
machine to<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>care what an algorithm is. It is a generation that has
made a transition<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>from the transparency of algorithm to the opacity of
simulation. This generation<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>takes overland journeys along a simulated <st1:place
w:st="on">Oregon Trail</st1:place> and when<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>it plays </span></font><i><font face=StoneSerif-Italic><span
style='font-family:StoneSerif-Italic;font-style:italic'>The Sims </span></font></i><font
face=StoneSerif><span style='font-family:StoneSerif'>or </span></font><i><font
face=StoneSerif-Italic><span style='font-family:StoneSerif-Italic;font-style:
italic'>The Sims Online</span></font></i><font face=StoneSerif><span
style='font-family:StoneSerif'>, it designs houses, personal histories,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>and social engagements for the virtual citizenry. In </span></font><i><font
face=StoneSerif-Italic><span style='font-family:StoneSerif-Italic;font-style:
italic'>The Second Self</span></font></i><font face=StoneSerif><span
style='font-family:StoneSerif'>, when<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>I wrote of the “computer as Rorschach,” it
was programming that served<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>as the projective screen for personal and cultural differences.
These days,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>computation offers far more immediate projective media:
one can create<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>multiple avatars in online communities and play with
relationships, quite<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>literally using one’s “second (or third, or
fourth, of fifth) self.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>I have suggested, in talking about Deborah, that on the
level of the individual<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>child, something interesting has been lost in the move
away from<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>authorship of the programs that underlie one’s
own game. On a societal<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>level, there is an analogous loss. The aesthetic of
transparency (common<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>to the Logo movement and the early generations of
personal computer<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>hobbyists) carried with it a political aesthetic that
was tied both to authorship<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>and to knowing how things worked on a level of
considerable detail.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>This is a kind of understanding that is not
communicated by playing<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>off-the-shelf simulations.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>On one level, high school sophomores playing </span></font><i><font
face=StoneSerif-Italic><span style='font-family:StoneSerif-Italic;font-style:
italic'>SimCity </span></font></i><font face=StoneSerif><span style='font-family:
StoneSerif'>for two hours<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>may learn more about urban planning than they would
from a textbook,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>but on another level, they may not know how to think
about what they<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>are doing. They “play” simulations but
don’t have a clear way to discriminate<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>between the rules of the game and those that operate in
a real city.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>Most have never programmed a computer or constructed
their own simulations.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>They do not have a language for talking about how one
might<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>rewrite the rules of their games. So, for example, </span></font><i><font
face=StoneSerif-Italic><span style='font-family:StoneSerif-Italic;font-style:
italic'>SimCity </span></font></i><font face=StoneSerif><span style='font-family:
StoneSerif'>often gives players<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>the impression that raising taxes will lead to riots.
But, of course, there is<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>a way to write the game so that increased taxes lead to
an increase in health<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>services, productivity, and social harmony. In my view,
citizenship in a<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>culture of simulation requires that you know how to
rewrite the rules. You<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>need tools to measure, criticize, and judge every
simulation. Today’s<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>teenagers are comfortable as inhabitants of simulated
worlds, but most<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>often, they are there as consumers rather than as
citizens. To achieve full<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>citizenship, our children need to work with simulations
that teach about<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>the nature of simulation itself.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>Tim, who did not know how to program, worked in a
complex system built by<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>others. Tim played his simulation software as though it
were a video game,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>moment to moment, with no understanding of the rules.
Deborah was<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>nurtured by transparency; Tim’s skill set was
centered on the artful navigation<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>of opacity. His philosophy of play: “Don’t
let it bother you if you<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>don’t understand. I just say to myself that I
probably won’t be able to<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>understand the whole game any time soon. So I just play
it.”6<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>Tim’s method enabled him to accomplish a great
deal in simulation<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>space. His comfort in his virtual world might serve him
(not well, but adequately)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>in the many possible careers that lay before him,
careers in architecture,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>law, business, medicine, or history. In all of these
fields, dealing<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>with information increasingly entails the navigation of
simulations of<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>other people’s creation. However, as I meet
professionals in all of these<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>fields who move easily within their computational
systems and yet feel<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>constrained by them, trapped by their systems’
unseen limitations and<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>unknown assumptions, I feel continued concern. Are the
new generations<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>of simulation consumers reminiscent of people who can
pronounce the<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>words in a book but don’t understand what they
mean? We come to<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>written text with centuries-long habits of readership.
At the very least, we<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>have learned to begin with the journalist’s
traditional questions: Who,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>what, when, where, why, and how? Who wrote these words,
what is their<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>message, why were they written, and how are they
situated in time and<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>place, politically and socially? The dramatic changes
in computer education<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>over the past decades leave us with serious questions
about how we<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>can teach our children to interrogate simulations in
much the same spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>The specific questions may be different, but the intent
needs to be the<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>same: to develop habits of readership appropriate to a
culture of simulation.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>These habits of readership are central </span></font><font
size=1 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:StoneSerif'>to
computer literacy and social<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'>responsibility in the twenty-first century.</span></font><font
size=2 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:StoneSerif'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:StoneSerif'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><a
href="http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=10515&mode=toc">http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=10515&mode=toc</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>(I’ve uploaded a few of these files sharing – illustrate
the amazing resources which are hidden from google– just a little sample
sharing of what’s out there with journals and electronic access to a uni
library - but I guess I will take them pretty soon ) <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>More Turkle / Papert <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><a href="http://www.thinkingcurriculum.com/turklePapert.pdf">http://www.thinkingcurriculum.com/turklePapert.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>(no copyright here I would think – there are various
versions of this paper online – in fact Paperts classic book MindStorms
can be downloaded for free here <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><a
href="http://portal.acm.org/toc.cfm?id=SERIES11430&type=series&coll=ACM&dl=ACM">http://portal.acm.org/toc.cfm?id=SERIES11430&type=series&coll=ACM&dl=ACM</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>needs a free web registration but then gives you the whole
book ) <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>I’m in the middle of researching stuff – this is
the tip of the iceberg of whats out there <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Cheers <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Rob </span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> </span><o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p></p><p><b>Important - </b>This email and any attachments may be confidential. If received in error, please contact us and delete all copies. Before opening or using attachments check them for viruses and defects. Regardless of any loss, damage or consequence, whether caused by the negligence of the sender or not, resulting directly or indirectly from the use of any attached files our liability is limited to resupplying any affected attachments. Any representations or opinions expressed are those of the individual sender, and not necessarily those of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.</p>
</body>
</html>