CS547 Human-Computer Interaction Seminar (Seminar on People, Computers, and Design)
Fridays 12:50-2:05 · Gates B01 · Open to the public
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February 23, 2001
This talk is based upon the following propositions:
- Very deep changes in the learning environment are already
possible and desirable; they will become more urgently necessary
with the spread of digital technology.
- Steps towards the introduction of computers in schools fall
far short of the changes that must come.
- These larger changes will not come as automatic consequences
of the presence of technology in schools. Serious intellectual
effort is needed to define new forms of learning.
In this talk I will discuss how the development of technological
fluency through constructionist uses can help liberate untapped
learning potential. In order to accomplish this, the tools and
uses must be open for expression and appropriation. I will focus
on two elements: the nature of the tools we create and the types
of activities and settings in which we work. I will discuss a
few of the new environments we are making and provide examples
from our learning lab in a juvenile jail and work in rural areas
of Thailand where our participants achieved at levels far beyond
normal expectations.
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David Cavallo is a Research Scientist in the Epistemology
and Learning Group at the MIT
Media Laboratory. His work focuses on the design and implementation
of reforms of learning environments and educational systems,
and the role technology can play in this change process. He
also works on the design of new technologies for learning. His
thesis work describes an educational intervention in Thailand,
named Project
Lighthouse, and points towards the importance of emergent
design in the reform of large-scale, complex, dynamic environments.
Prior to MIT, Cavallo led the design and implementation of medical
informatics as part of a reform of health care delivery and
management at the Harvard University Health Services. Prior
to that he was a principal and consulting software engineer
at Digital Equipment Corporation's Artificial Intelligence Technology
Center. He led enterprise architecture and implementation efforts
for using technology to produce change in the processes and
operations of major companies by focusing on learning. He designed
and built numerous knowledge-based systems for industry. Most
notable among these was a set of intelligent microworlds for
training air traffic controllers. He founded and led the Advanced
Technology group for Digital's Latin American and Caribbean
Region. He also holds a Master of Science degree from the MIT
Media Laboratory and a Bachelor's of Science degree in Computer
Science from Rutgers University. He has advised numerous heads
of state and ministries of education on the adoption of advanced
technologies for learning and the reform of educational institutions.
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