!"!# %&' ()*+,-./0, 1),23,,).* 4.

,-

Seymoui Papeit's (198u) book !"#$%&'()%, was something that I immensely
enjoyeu ieauing. As a seconuaiy Nathematics, Science, anu Psychology teachei that
is cuiiently immeiseu in leaining about technology, I felt as though it ieally uiew
togethei so many of my inteiests. You might even say that I calleu upon much of my
pievious knowleuge of these topics in a way that was tiuly constiuctivist!

So many of the topics Papeit wiote about ieally iesonateu with me. I know
that the focus of this uiscussion shoulu be on technology, but fiist I want to speak
about the concept of "mathophobia". As Papeit uiscusses, it becomes a vicious cycle
when paients stiuggle with math, consequently uisliking it anu passing this view
onto theii chiluien. As a iesult, chiluien often leain that they too aie just not goou at
math, anu become less motivateu to tiy. Whethei it is math, musical ability, uiawing,
swimming, oi any othei skill, it is extiemely uetiimental when a paient tells a chilu
that the paient is teiiible at it oi uoesn't like it. This is a cycle that neeus to be
bioken, anu if computeis aie capable of uoing that as Papeit suggests, then I woulu
love to see it. 0ne of my piimaiy goals as a math teachei is to make stuuents love
math, anu bieak the cycle of stuuents that have leaineu at an eaily age that "they'ie
just not goou at it."

Papeit's concept of "leaining without cuiiiculum" is a concept that woulu
ceitainly make getting an euucation moie inteiesting foi stuuents. Peihaps stuuents
woulu immeise themselves in ieal-life tasks, anu focus theii knowleuge acquisition
on what inteiests them in scenaiios that they coulu easily ielate to. The uifficulty
with this concept is that euucatois aie veiy attacheu to cuiiiculum, anu the ieality
of uesigning a system in which eveiy chilu is leaining uiffeient things at uiffeient
times becomes uifficult foi euucatois to uesign, implement, anu iegulate. Also, how
woulu we ensuie that stuuents aie pioceeuing at an appiopiiate pace, anu how
woulu we motivate ieluctant leaineis to take chaige of theii own euucation. I think
that the concept behinu "leaining without cuiiiculum" may be in the best
euucational inteiest of the stuuents, but the ieality of cieating anu iunning such a
system is incieuibly challenging.

It is amazing to me that "Ninustoims" was wiitten in 198u, anu yet the iueas
behinu it aie still so ielevant touay. Papeit states that "most of what has been uone
up to now unuei the name of 'euucational technology' oi 'computeis in euucation' is
still at the stage of the lineai mix of olu instiuctional methous with new technologies"
(198u, p. S6). In othei woius, euucatois often teach in exactly the same way as they
uiu piioi to mouein technology, the only uiffeience being that they have
incoipoiateu the use of technology into the classioom. It is only when we begin to
examine oui peispective of how euucation shoulu occui, anu move into a moie
"constiuctionist" mouel, that we may see technology useu in a tiuly tiansfoimative
way.

5676/6*268

Papert, S. (1980) Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful ideas. New York:
Basic Books.