Tuesday, September 27, 2011

My Lifelong Kindergarten @ the MIT Media Lab


A Case for Lifelong Kindergarten. (MindShift, 9/26/2011)

Excerpt: At the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology our goal is to design technologies that empower people to explore, experiment, and express themselves in new ways. My Lifelong Kindergarten group develops tools that engage people in creative learning experiences, emphasizing the type of interest-driven, collaborative activities that traditionally exist in kindergarten.  [Unfortunately, too many folks have clamped on the blinders in an ill-considered race to the top.]

We are inspired by the way kindergarten students learn through a spiraling process in which they imagine what they want to do, create a project based on their ideas, play with their creations, share their ideas and creations with others, and reflect on their experiences – all of which leads them to imagine new ideas and new projects. This iterative learning process is ideal preparation for today’s fast-changing society in which people must continually come up with innovative solutions to unexpected situations in their lives.

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