%0 Book Section %1 citeulike:384159 %A Resnick, Mitchel %B Play = Learning: How play motivates and enhances children's cognitive and social-emotional growth %D 2006 %E Singer, Dorothy G. %E Golinkoff, Roberta M. %E Hirsh-Pasek, Kathy %I Oxford University Press %K computers constructionism design edutainment games gmx haifa-games-course learning mathgamespatterns playfull %P 192-208 %T Computer as Paint Brush: Technology, Play, and the Creative Society %U http://web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/playlearn-handout.pdf %X Let’s start with a familiar children’s game: Which of these things is not like the other? Which of these things just doesn’t belong? Television. Computer. Paint brush. For many people, the answer seems obvious: the paint brush doesn’t belong. After all, the television and the computer were both invented in the 20th century, both involve electronic technology, and both can deliver large amounts of information to large numbers of people. None of that is true for the paint brush. But, in my view, computers will not live up to their potential until we start to think of them less like televisions and more like paint brushes. That is, we need to start seeing computers not simply as information machines, but also as a new medium for creative design and expression. In recent years, a growing number of educators and psychologists have expressed concern that computers are stifling children’s learning and creativity, engaging children in mindless interaction and passive consumption (Cordes and Miller, 2000; Oppenheimer, 2003). They have a point: today, many computers are used in that way. But that needn’t be the case. This paper presents an alternate vision of how children might use computers, in which children use computers more like paint brushes and less like televisions, opening new opportunities for children to playfully explore, experiment, design, and invent. The goal of the paper is not to provide conclusive evidence but rather, through illustrative examples, to provoke a rethinking of the roles that computers can play in children’s lives.

@inbook{citeulike:384159, abstract = {Let’s start with a familiar children’s game: Which of these things is not like the other? Which of these things just doesn’t belong? Television. Computer. Paint brush. For many people, the answer seems obvious: the paint brush doesn’t belong. After all, the television and the computer were both invented in the 20th century, both involve electronic technology, and both can deliver large amounts of information to large numbers of people. None of that is true for the paint brush. But, in my view, computers will not live up to their potential until we start to think of them less like televisions and more like paint brushes. That is, we need to start seeing computers not simply as information machines, but also as a new medium for creative design and expression. In recent years, a growing number of educators and psychologists have expressed concern that computers are stifling children’s learning and creativity, engaging children in mindless interaction and passive consumption (Cordes and Miller, 2000; Oppenheimer, 2003). They have a point: today, many computers are used in that way. But that needn’t be the case. This paper presents an alternate vision of how children might use computers, in which children use computers more like paint brushes and less like televisions, opening new opportunities for children to playfully explore, experiment, design, and invent. The goal of the paper is not to provide conclusive evidence but rather, through illustrative examples, to provoke a rethinking of the roles that computers can play in children’s lives.}, added-at = {2009-08-23T21:19:57.000+0200}, author = {Resnick, Mitchel}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2ede4149e53052a8eef50ee1ed8610f82/yish}, booktitle = {Play = Learning: How play motivates and enhances children's cognitive and social-emotional growth}, citeulike-article-id = {384159}, editor = {Singer, Dorothy G. and Golinkoff, Roberta M. and Hirsh-Pasek, Kathy}, interhash = {b17c2de018b77de260c76600cfcac82c}, intrahash = {ede4149e53052a8eef50ee1ed8610f82}, keywords = {computers constructionism design edutainment games gmx haifa-games-course learning mathgamespatterns playfull}, pages = {192-208}, priority = {0}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, timestamp = {2010-08-14T13:41:49.000+0200}, title = {Computer as Paint Brush: Technology, Play, and the Creative Society}, url = {http://web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/playlearn-handout.pdf}, year = 2006 }