Photo by Robert Spencer for The New York Times

     What does it take to inspire sustained interest in science and inquiry? On Thursday, February 28, 2013, the LRDC (Learning Research and Development Center) of the University of Pittsburgh opened their first lecture of the 50^th Anniversary Distinguished Speaker Series with the question.  Dr. Resnick was introduced by Chris Schunn of the LRDC who succinctly introduced Michel Resnick impressive C.V. with accolades including Director, Lifelong Kindergarten Group, MIT Media Lab and the Lego Papert Professor of Learning Research.  Dr. Resnick and his colleagues are at the foundation of the "programmable brick" technology many of us use in the Lego Mindstorm NXT and the Scratch Programming language and online collaborative community.

     Design, Create, Explore.  Dr. Resnick stressed the need for an atmosphere of kindergarten playful creation to develop technological fluency.  He wants to see programming used not as a skill taught through scripted inquiry (today we learn the concept of iteration, follow these steps and create what I create).  Rather, programming for Resnick is like writing, a technical skill that opens the possibility of individual expression and creativity. He speaks of Coding to Learn - that is  Read More ...