Computational visualization for critical thinking

This paper looks back at historical precedents for how computational systems and ideas have been visualized as a means of access to and engagement with a broader audience, and to develop a new more tangible language to address abstraction. These precedents share a subversive ground in using a visual language to provoke new ways of engaging with about complex ideas. Two new approaches to visualizing algorithmic systems are proposed for the emerging context of algorithmic ethics in society, looking at prototypical algorithms in computer vision and machine learning systems, to think through the meaning created by algorithmic structure and process. The aim is to use visual design to provoke new kinds of thinking and criticality that can offer opportunities to address algorithms in their increasingly more politicized role today. These new approaches are developed from an arts research perspective to support critical thinking and arts knowledge through creative coding and interactive design

Distributed tools for distributed thought : networked StarLogo

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1995.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 42-43).by Bruce R. Krysiak.M.Eng

Physical Etoys : La libertad más allá del mundo digital

El presente trabajo describe un conjunto de argumentos que apoyan el uso de Physical Etoys en el aula. Physical Etoys es un sofware argentino basado en Etoys y en la teoría construccionista, con el objetivo de ayudar a los alumnos a programar el mundo físico e interactuar con él.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ

Toolkit to democratize the computational exploration of data

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2012.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-95).This thesis explores the space of programming with data, focusing on the data-ecosystem opened up by the Internet and Cloud technologies. The central argument of this thesis is that the act of democratizing programmatic access to online data can further unleash the generative powers of this emerging ecosystem, and enable explorations of a new set of concepts and powerful ideas. To establish the validity of this argument, this thesis introduces a learning framework for the computational exploration of online data, a system that enables children to program with online data, and then finally describes a study of children using the system to explore wide variety of creative possibilities, as well as important computational concepts and powerful ideas around data.by Sayamindu Dasgupta.S.M

An investigation of the potential of interactive simulations for developing system thinking skills in elementary school: a case study with fifth- and sixth- graders

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a simulation-based learning environment on elementary school students’ (11- to 12- year old) development of system thinking skills. The learning environment included interactive simulations using the Stagecast Creator software to simulate the ecosystem of a marsh. Simulations are an important tool in any effort to develop system thinking, because they have the potential to highlight the dynamic nature of systems. Before the implementation of the learning environment (over a period of 5, 90 minutes lessons) two written tests were administered to the students, investigating the development of seven aspects of system thinking. The same tests were administered after the implementation. Specifically, four of the tasks included in each test were associated with skills concerning the structure and the elements of a system and three were associated with the processes and interactions taking place within a system. The findings indicated that elementary school students have the potential to develop system-thinking skills. The proposed learning environment provoked considerable improvements in some system thinking skills during a relatively brief learning process. However, the learning environment was not successful in promoting feedback thinking. We interpret these results in view of the difficulties encountered by the students. We also discuss the implications of our findings for the design of learning environments

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Technological fluency and the art of motorcycle maintenance : emergent design of learning environments

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2000.Includes bibliographical references (p. 239-246).The empirical basis of this thesis is a two-year project to bring new learning environments and methodologies to rural Thailand. Five theoretical and practical innovations are emphasized: 1. A new methodology of merging education with the actual use of technology to improve the economy and quality of life of community is demonstrated. 2. A practice of "applied epistemological anthropology," which consists of probing for skills and knowledge resident in a community and using these as bridges to new content, is developed. For example, analysis of learning behaviors led me to identify an "engine culture" in rural Thailand as an unrecognized source of "latent learning potential." This theory has already begun to spawn a theoretical inquiry with significant promise for assessment of the learning potential of developing countries. 3. Pilot projects were mounted outside of the education system with the specific purpose of breaking "educational mindsets" that have been identified as blocks to educational reform. A salient example is the assumption that the population and teachers of rural areas lack the cognitive foundations for modern technological education. The engine culture is an existence proof for the theory of unrecognized foundational elements. 4. The work required a flexible approach to the design of digital-based educational interventions. Analysis of these design issues has led to a theoretical framework, "Emergent Design," for investigating how choice of design methodology contributes to the success or failure of education reforms. 5. The concept of Emergent Design exposes parallels with developments in the restructuring of noneducational organizations. To help explicate this, I draw from my own experience in reforming a healthcare organization. The work suggests a conclusion with a very broad sweep: The latent learning potential of the world population has been grossly underestimated as a result of prevailing mindsets that limit the design of interventions to improve the evolution of the global learning environment.David Paul Cavallo.Ph.D

The programmable LEGO brick : ubiquitous computing for kids

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Media Arts & Sciences, 1995.Includes bibliographical references (p. 87-88).by James Randal Sargent.M.S

Contested codes : toward a social history of Napster

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Comparative Media Studies, June 2001."June 2001."Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-83).In the years since its inception, some interpretations of the software program known as "Napster" have been inscribed into laws, business plans, and purchasing decisions while others have been pushed to the fringes. This paper examines how and why certain assumptions about Napster gained consensus value whereas others did not. The analytical approach involves an examination of discourses about Napster in several arenas - legal, economic, social, and cultural - and is informed by a conceptualization of Napster as an ongoing encounter between, rather than the accomplishment of, inventor(s), institution(s), and interest(s). While acknowledging the importance of empirical examinations of Napster's impact on firms and markets, as well as the proscriptive advice which it supports, the focus here is on providing a contextualized understanding of the technology as an object whose meanings were contested and ultimately resolved, or at least stabilized, within, across, and through a broader systems of power and structured interests.by David Spitz.S.M