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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Hi Kent <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I know you probably didn’t want all
that info – I’m in deeper than usual for some other research so it
spills over here <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I hope its of interest to some though <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>The paper on <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Alice</st1:place></st1:City> looks interesting – short read –
looks like would go in a lunchtime, I guess (uses animation and story telling
to sneak some programming ideas under the radar) <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Cheers <br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Rob <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>PS the first email I sent came through a
few days later – last time I send an attachment to the list <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span lang=EN-US
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font
size=2 face=Tahoma><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>
yr7-10it-bounces@edulists.com.au [mailto:yr7-10it-bounces@edulists.com.au] <b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Kent Beveridge<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Tuesday, 25 March 2008 3:37
PM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> Year 7 - 10 Information
Technology Teachers' Mailing List<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> RE: [Yr7-10it] girls, IT,
computer literacy</span></font><span lang=EN-US><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Hey folks, it seems we are getting in a
few meters deeper than I originally planned. I am not writing a thesis on girls
in computing, just after some basic ideas on typical things that some 7/8/9/10
year level girls might like to do to increase their participation rate in the
subject of IT. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Keep in mind here, that it is still a separate subject here
and not integrated a la VELS into other disciplines. Also, my classes are all
mixed sex so I dont have the luxury of all girls (or all boys) classes, the
numbers just cant justify that yet.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Its nice to hear that lots of research has been done etc
etc..but, the bottom line (and we all love a nice bottom line!) is, what will
enthuse teenage girls into IT that can be started with a simple single session
one lunchtime per week with basic software programs, the
internet(filtered) and no PhD?</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Kent</span></font></st1:place></st1:country-region><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><strong><b><i><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue;font-style:italic'>Kent Beveridge</span></font></i></b></strong><i><font
color=blue><span style='color:blue;font-style:italic'>,</span></font></i><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div style='margin-left:42.55pt'>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue;font-style:italic'>I.T. co-ordinator</span></font></i><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div style='margin-left:42.55pt'>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue;font-style:italic'>St. Brigids Catholic Sec.
College</span></font></i><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div style='margin-left:42.55pt'>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue;font-style:italic'>Horsham</span></font></i><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black;font-style:italic'>email.. <a
href="mailto:kbeveridge@stbc.vic.edu.au">kbeveridge@stbc.vic.edu.au</a></span></font></i><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><strong><b><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>|<3|\|7
b3\/3r1D93 ? ;-)</span></font></b></strong><font size=2
color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black;font-style:italic'>Wishes and Eggs, one you
make and one you break! A bit like promises.....</span></font></i><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font
size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>
yr7-10it-bounces@edulists.com.au on behalf of Bill Kerr<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Tue 3/25/2008 2:59 PM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> Year 7 - 10 Information
Technology Teachers' Mailing List<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Re: [Yr7-10it] girls, IT,
computer literacy</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>great resources - thanks
rob<br>
<br>
yes, I want to be part of this discussion group, when and if it is set up :-)<br>
<br>
alan kay's material complements the turkle quote - she focuses on social
relations being embedded in simulations; he focuses on how they are embedded in
the user interface<br>
<br>
insofar as we conceptualise computers as "mere tools" then they will
continue to be used poorly in schools IMO - better to see them as interactive
medium which either molds the user in its image (eg. an application or a GUI)
or the user molds the machine, expresses themselves through the medium, including
the ability to modify and develop aspects of the medium <br>
<br>
-- <br>
Bill Kerr<br>
<a href="http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/">http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>On Tue, Mar 25, 2008 at 12:00 PM, Costello, Rob R <<a
href="mailto:Costello.Rob.R@edumail.vic.gov.au">Costello.Rob.R@edumail.vic.gov.au</a>>
wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<div vlink=purple>
<div>
<p><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.
</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><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 </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><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 - </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><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." </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><a
href="http://www.thinkingcurriculum.com/alice.pdf" target="_blank">www.thinkingcurriculum.com/alice.pdf</a></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><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 </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Be
worth schools having an account) </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><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 ! </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>also
a copy and paste of whats I sent yesterday : </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><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 </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><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; </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><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"</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><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 </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><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 -</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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" </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:navy'>looks at about 200 of them </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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"
target="_blank">http://www.thinkingcurriculum.com/lowerbarrier.pdf</a> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:navy'>Turkle : </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:StoneSerif'>manifestations
of its projective power. Twenty years later, programming</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:StoneSerif'>simulations,
accessing educational CD-ROMs, navigating the Internet, and</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:StoneSerif'>using
presentation software such as PowerPoint. But the question remains</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:StoneSerif'>Do
they constitute computer literacy?</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:StoneSerif'>One
unhappy seventh-grade teacher concurred,</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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,</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:StoneSerif'>know
what an algorithm is."</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:StoneSerif'>advocates
for computational transparency have, in large measure, lost their</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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,</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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,</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:StoneSerif'>computation
offers far more immediate projective media: one can create</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:StoneSerif'>multiple
avatars in online communities and play with relationships, quite</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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."</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:StoneSerif'>off-the-shelf
simulations.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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,</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:StoneSerif'>teenagers
are comfortable as inhabitants of simulated worlds, but most</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:StoneSerif'>the
nature of simulation itself.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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,</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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)</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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,</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:StoneSerif'>with
information increasingly entails the navigation of simulations of</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:StoneSerif'>constrained
by them, trapped by their systems' unseen limitations and</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:StoneSerif'>unknown
assumptions, I feel continued concern. Are the new generations</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:StoneSerif'>of
simulation consumers reminiscent of people who can pronounce the</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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,</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:StoneSerif'>place,
politically and socially? The dramatic changes in computer education</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=1 face=StoneSerif><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:StoneSerif'>responsibility
in the twenty-first century.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><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"
target="_blank">http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=10515&mode=toc</a></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><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 ) </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>More
Turkle / Papert </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><a
href="http://www.thinkingcurriculum.com/turklePapert.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.thinkingcurriculum.com/turklePapert.pdf</a></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><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 </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><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"
target="_blank">http://portal.acm.org/toc.cfm?id=SERIES11430&type=series&coll=ACM&dl=ACM</a></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><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 ) </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><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 </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Cheers
</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><i><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
font-style:italic'>Rob </span></font></i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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