Sunday Morning Keynote (Karen Brennan)

Transcript

1. Computational
   Creativity: 

   What Kids Learn as 

   Designers of 

   Interactive Media
   Karen Brennan
   Harvard University
   PyCon Canada 2013
   

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2. What do people do

   with computers?
   

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6. consumers,

   not creators
   

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8. Everyday life is increasingly regulated by
   complex technologies that most people
   neither understand nor believe they can
   do much to influence.
   Bandura, 2001
   

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9. code
   

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12. We cannot afford to ignore code or allow
    it to remain the exclusive concern of
    computer programmers and engineers.
    Hayles, 2005
    

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13. Programming is the sweet spot, the
    high leverage point in a digital society.
    
    If we don’t learn to program,
    we risk being programmed ourselves.
    Rushkoff, 2010
    

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14. The 4th R … provides an alternative to
    fact-based mastery and proposes, instead,
    iterative, process-oriented, constructive,
    innovative thinking.
    Davidson, 2012
    

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15. not just for
    some kids
    

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16. ALL kids
    

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17. Everyone should learn
    how to read and write
    our computational world.
    

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18. But how can we support
    kids’ participation
    as computational creators?
    

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26. Female
    37%
    Male
    63%
    

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28. What are kids

    learning?
    

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29. Learning concepts

    Learning practices

    Learning perspectives
    

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30. Learning concepts
    

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31. sequences, loops, parallelism, events,
    functions, variables, conditionals, etc.
    

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32. Low Floor
    High Ceiling
    

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33. Low Floor
    High Ceiling
    Wide Walls
    

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35. 3.3 million
    projects shared since May 2007!
    

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41. They say that teaching is the highest form
    of learning or understanding.
    I think that making math projects has
    actually helped me understand math
    concepts better than learning in school.
    “
    ”!
    Sonia, 16 years old
    

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48. Learning practices
    

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49. Many children are held back in their learning
    because they have a model of learning in which
    you have either “got it” or “got it wrong.”
    
    But when you learn to program a computer
    you almost never get it right the first time.
    
    The question to ask about the program is not
    whether it is right or wrong, but if it is fixable.
    Papert, 1980
    

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52. What’s your process

    for fixing your programs?
    

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53. 1.  Read through your code.
    2.  3. Reorganize your code.
    4. Try writing your code again.
    5. Tell/ask someone about the problem.
    6. Look for examples that work.
    7. Take a break.
    

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54. 1. Read through your code.
    2. Experiment with your code.
    4. Try writing your code again.
    5. Tell/ask someone about the problem.
    6. Look for examples that work.
    7. Take a break.
    

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56. It’s like Bananagrams – you get so far into the
    program, or into the game, and then you
    realize, “I’ve got these other letters, how do
    I get them in?”
    
    You have to be able to take apart parts of your
    project and remix it up and put it back in.
    Jenson, 11 years old!
    

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57. 1. Read through your code.
    2. Experiment with your code.
    3. Reorganize or rewrite your code.
    5. Tell/ask someone about the problem.
    6. Look for examples that work.
    7. Take a break.
    

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60. 1. Read through your code.
    2. Experiment with your code.
    3. Reorganize or rewrite your code.
    4. Tell/ask someone about the problem.
    6. Look for examples that work.
    7. Take a break.
    

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61. projects
    

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62. comments
    projects
    

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67. 1. Read through your code.
    2. Experiment with your code.
    3. Reorganize or rewrite your code.
    4. Tell/ask someone about the problem.
    5. Look for examples that work.
    7. Take a break.
    

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68. projects
    remixes
    

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72. 1. Read through your code.
    2. Experiment with your code.
    3. Reorganize or rewrite your code.
    4. Tell/ask someone about the problem.
    5. Look for examples that work.
    7. Take a break.
    

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73. 1. Read through your code.
    2. Experiment with your code.
    3. Reorganize or rewrite your code.
    4. Tell/ask someone about the problem.
    5. Look for examples that work.
    6. Take a break.
    

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74. Sometimes, I get myself so dug in a
    hole that I have to just get myself out
    of Scratch for the day and then start
    it up another time because after a lot
    of programming, your head hurts.
    It’s not easy to program with a hurting
    head!
    “
    ”!
    Jenson, 11 years old
    

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75. Learning perspectives
    

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76. It is creative apperception more than anything
    else that makes the individual feel that life is
    worth living.
    Winnicott, 1971
    

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77. It’s really great to express yourself creatively.
    You could do anything with Scratch. You can
    make video games, music, art, anything.
    The possibilities are endless, no limitations,
    really.
    “
    ”!
    Lindsey, 12 years old
    

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78. I loved the challenge.
    I was persistent.
    I had grit.
    

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79. It gives you that sense of accomplishment
    when you finally finish your project.
    
    It boosts your confidence when you
    finish something that you never thought
    was possible.
    “
    ”!
    Bradley, 12 years old
    

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80. Now I have what I call a ‘programmer’s
    mind’. That is where I think about how
    anything is programmed. This has gone
    from toasters, car electrical systems, and
    soooo much more.
    “
    ”!
    

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82. What are kids

    learning?
    

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83. Learning concepts

    Learning practices

    Learning perspectives
    

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84. Learning learning
    

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87. Scratch lets you explore your imagination.
    You design your own stuff, and once you
    start, you just don’t want to stop.
    Because as you learn more, you can see
    there are more possibilities, and the more
    possibilities there are, the more you want
    to expand on what you just learned.
    “
    ”!
    Bradley, 12 years old
    

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88. karen_brennan@gse.harvard.edu
    http://scratch.mit.edu/
    http://scratch-ed.org/
    

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