Mindstorms: Children, Computers, And Powerful Ideas 2nd Edition

by Seymour A. Papert (Author)

30 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0465046744

ISBN-10: 0465046746

Why is ISBN important?

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Share <Embed>

Condition: Used - Very Good

In Stock. Sold by Torsion Entertainment, Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

In Stock.

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Note: Available at a lower price from other sellers that may not offer free Prime shipping.

List Price: $19.50
Save: $2.69 (14%)

FREE Shipping.

Turn on 1-Click ordering

Price

New from

Used from

Hardcover

"Please retry"

—

$67.42

$7.26

Paperback

"Please retry"

$16.81

$9.87

$2.10

Note: Available at a lower price from other sellers that may not offer free Prime shipping.

Free Two-Day Shipping for College Students with Amazon Student

The book that started the computer revolution in schools

Computers have completely changed the way we teach children. We have Mindstorms to thank for that. In this book, pioneering computer scientist Seymour Papert uses the invention of LOGO, the first child-friendly programming language, to make the case for the value of teaching children with computers. Papert argues that children are more than capable of mastering computers, and that teaching computational processes like de-bugging in the classroom can change the way we learn everything else. He also shows that schools saturated with technology can actually improve socialization and interaction among students and between students and teachers.

Technology changes every day, but the basic ways that computers can help us learn remain. For thousands of teachers and parents who have sought creative ways to help children learn with computers, Mindstorms is their bible.

Frequently bought together

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Seymour Papert

14

Paperback
$22.99
Mitchel Resnick

31

Hardcover
$17.92
Leah Buechley

19

Perfect Paperback
10 offers from $56.69
Marina Umaschi Bers

1

Paperback
$33.20
Seymour Papert

13

Hardcover
$22.95
Sylvia Libow Martinez

109

Paperback
$34.95

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[Papert] offers one of the most promising glimpses yet of how we might build toward an education system in which we could take renewed pride."―New York Times Book Review

"Seymour Papert is the greatest of all living education theorists. He puts into the hands of the child new conceptual tools and thus changes the learning experience from a matter of discipline and suffering into one of excitement."―Marvin Minsky

"Ever since I met Seymour...I liked the way he talked about kids and how they learn. What he taught me was that each of us can learn and that computers are a unique tool to be used in our learning. But real learning is not rote and not commanded, but the result of exploration and delight."
―Governor Jerry Brown

"Papert's fascinating volume should help adults allay their own fear of computers and not extend those fears into the uncorrupted psyches of children."
―Choice

About the Author

Seymour Papert (1928-2016) was a professor of mathematics and education at MIT, where he co-founded the Artificial Intelligence and Media Laboratories. He was the co-inventor of the LOGO programming language.

Paperback: 252 pages
Publisher: Basic Books; 2 edition (August 4, 1993)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0465046746
ISBN-13: 978-0465046744
Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.6 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 30 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #260,067 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #18 in Books > Teens > Education & Reference > Science & Technology > Computers > Programming
- #138 in Books > Textbooks > Education > Curriculum & Instruction
- #151 in Books > Medical Books > Psychology > Adolescent Psychology

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE

30 customer reviews

2 star (0%)

Review this product

Write a customer review

Showing 1-4 of 30 reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Steve C

My foundation for teaching programming to kids

December 19, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I use this as the basis of a Minecraft + (i)Python class I teach, and as I tell everyone who asks, I'm really more or less working straight out of this book. It's the intellectual foundation - and stands in stark contrast to instructional material that just plows through teaching variables, loops, decision logic, procedures, and so on, i.e. the vast majority of programming literature.

It was wonderful to see some of the kids "get" the math side of programming when we walked through the commonality between square and triangle functions - creating a general purpose polygon function, and then refactoring square and triangle to use it. There's so much they're being taught that they don't necessarily even realize, because it's all being delivered as something that's engaging and "fun".

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Trevis Rothwell

Good source of ideas about learning

May 14, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

A lot of this book involves stories about the Logo / Turtle programming system. Logo and Turtle might not be used much any more, but the ideas that that developed around them continue to be pertinent.

One of Papert's central ideas is that people learn best when immersed in an environment in which they can interact with, build with, actually use the concepts they are learning, rather than learning more abstractly. For example, learning to speak French in Paris vs. learning to speak French in a United States classroom.

The goal of Turtle programming was to immerse learners in an environment in which they could interact with the ideas of Newtonian mechanics and differential geometry. But Papert's goal with this book was to inspire educators to take this idea further, building more immersion environments in which students could learn a variety of subjects.

If you read this book looking to be amazed by frontiers in educational technology, you may be disappointed. But if you can separate the ideas presented from the now-technologically-ancient environment in which they were implemented, I think you could do as Papert hoped, and apply those ideas in other contexts.

Overall a very good read, which has broadened my thinking in terms of how people learn.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

EIGHT STARS -- A Breakthrough in Natural Learning

May 19, 2000

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This is the best book I have ever read on how to assist people to learn for themselves. Papert began his work by collaborating with Jean Piaget, and then applied those perspectives in a self-programming language designed to help children learn math and physics.
Papert explains Piaget's work and provides case studies of how the programming language, LOGO, can help. He provides a wonderful contrasting explanation of the weaknesses of how math and physics are usually taught in schools.
I learned quite a few things from this that I did not know before. People are very good at developing theories about why things work the way they do. I knew that these theories are almost always wrong. What I did not realize is that if you give the person a way to test their theory, the person will keep devising new theories until they hit on one that works. What is usually missing in education is the means to allow that testing to occur.
An especially imaginative part of this book were the discussions of how to create theory testing solutions that are much simpler and easier to apply than any school problem you ever saw in these subjects. Papert works from a very fundamental and deep understanding of math and physics to reach the heart of the most useful thought processes for applying these subjects. It is thrilling to read about what you have known for many years, and to suddenly see it in a totally different and improved perspective.
Another benefit I got from this book were plenty of ideas for how to help my teenage daughter with her math. She is very verbal, and Papert points out that math seldom teaches a vocabulary for talking about math. As a result, she memorizes a lot and gets dissociated from the subject. I got a lot of ideas for how to encourage her to personalize the concepts and problems by moving her own body. From that I realized that I often solve the same kinds of problems by recalling physical situations I have been in. But I have failed to help her make that connection because I was unaware of it on a conscious level.
If you want to improve as a learner, help others learn better and faster, or simply want to understand more about different ways to think, this is a great book. I hope that all teachers get a chance to read and apply it.
Enjoy learning more!

77 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Terrible Tank

Computers are good at teaching kids, but KIDS TEACHING COMPUTERS is the true and overlooked disruptive technology

July 25, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This book is incredible. It ties together so much commonly known and well regarded foundational research with novel but tested ideas to break through what was formerly thought possible. The author worked with Piaget, but he was also deeply involved with computers at their very emergence. He not only correctly prophesies what was possible and likely to happen with computers in general and in education, but he also correctly points out the danger that the true value of computers in education would be overlooked. Kids teaching computers is an opportunity for children to develop formal reasoning, iterative and algorithmic thinking, discipline, and the enjoyable side of making mistakes on the way of continuous improvement to reach a "correct" answer. Buy it. Read it. Live it. :-)

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway

This item: Mindstorms: Children, Computers, And Powerful Ideas

Set up a giveaway

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Mitchel Resnick

31

Hardcover
$17.92
Seymour Papert

14

Paperback
$22.99
Marina Umaschi Bers

1

Paperback
$33.20
Sir Ken Robinson PhD

129

Paperback
$11.55
Seymour Papert

13

Hardcover
$22.95
Richard W. Hamming

5

Paperback
4 offers from $985.15

Pages with related products. See and discover other items: history of computer, history of computers, history of computing, math for computer science, mathematics for computer science, computer basics for children