Sowing the seeds for a more creative society
How do we prepare students to participate in a more creative society? View this recorded session, featuring Mitch Resnick of the MIT Media Lab for a discussion of new technologies and activities designed to help children think more creatively.
About the session
We live in a world that is changing more rapidly than ever before. Much of what we learn today will be obsolete tomorrow. Success and happiness depend on the ability to think and act creatively. In short, we are living in the Creative Society. But there is a problem. Most activities in children's lives, whether it's lessons in the classroom or games in the living room, are not designed to help children develop as creative thinkers. In this presentation, we will discuss new technologies and activities designed specifically to help children learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively, so that they are prepared for life in the Creative Society. we will focus particularly on Scratch, a new programming language and online community that enables young people to create their own interactive stories, games, and animations -- and share their creations with one another online. In the process, children develop skills and ways of thinking that are essential for becoming active participants in the Creative Society.
About the presenter
Mitch Resnick, MIT Media Lab
Mitchel Resnick, LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research and head of the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab, explores how new technologies can engage people in creative learning experiences. Resnick's research group developed the "programmable brick" technology that inspired the LEGO Mindstorms robotics kit. He co-founded the Computer Clubhouse project, a worldwide network of after-school centers where youth from low-income communities learn to express themselves creatively with new technologies. Resnick's group also developed Scratch, an online community where children program and share interactive stories, games, and animations. He earned a BA in physics at Princeton University (1978), and MS and PhD degrees in computer science at MIT (1988, 1992). He worked as a science-technology journalist from 1978 to 1983, and he has consulted throughout the world on creative uses of computers in education. He is author of Turtles, Termites, and Traffic Jams (1994), co-editor of Constructionism in Practice (1996), and co-author of Adventures in Modeling (2001). In 2011, Resnick was awarded the McGraw Prize in Education.