Mitchel Resnick
ABSTRACT
This paper argues that the "kindergarten approach to learning" -- characterized by a spiraling cycle of Imagine, Create, Play, Share, Reflect, and back to Imagine -- is ideally suited to the needs of the 21st century, helping learners develop the creative-thinking skills that are critical to success and satisfaction in today's society. The paper discusses strategies for designing new technologies that encourage and support kindergarten-style learning, building on the success of traditional kindergarten materials and activities, but extending to learners of all ages, helping them continue to develop as creative thinkers.
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Index Terms
- All I really need to know (about creative thinking) I learned (by studying how children learn) in kindergarten
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Reviews
Ann E. Fleury
Resnick discusses theories and strategies for designing new technologies “to help everyone become more creative in the ways they deal with everyday problems.” From kindergarten learning, he abstracts the spiraling steps of imagining, creating, playing, sharing, reflecting, and imagining again. Tools that can be used in multiple ways encourage imagining by learners of both genders and of diverse backgrounds. Construction kits can encourage learners to create. Playing with the items created leads to the involvement that enables learning. Sharing the creations builds a collaborative community. Community reflection on the ideas behind the creations leads to the step of imagining again. Scratch and Crickets, products of the MIT Media Lab, illustrate the principles that Resnick is advocating. Scratch is a new programming language allowing playful children to create fragments of computer programs by snapping together graphical blocks. Cricket kits combine arts-and-craft materials and Crickets, small programmable devices into which children can plug motors, lights, sensors, and other electronic blocks. Imaginative children have used Cricket kits to do such things as create flowers that react to clapping by dancing and changing color. The MIT Media Lab has long been an exciting example of adults thinking creatively with the goal of encouraging children to do the same. This paper imaginatively captures that spirit of creativity with its design advice. Online Computing Reviews Service
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