ABSTRACT
Seymour Papert beams at the world from his web site; he has much to look pleased about. His site recounts how Papert was ridiculed in the early days when he claimed that personal computers had the potential to transform education, then goes on to list Papert’s many triumphs. These include the fact that LOGO, the logic-based programming language for children that he helped to develop and then championed, is currently used in all UK schools. In his influential book, Mindstorms: Children, Computers and Powerful Ideas, Papert criticised the use of computers for drill and practice exercises, and argued in favour of the value of using computers as a tool for general intellectual development (Papert, 1981). His approach, he wrote, was about allowing the kids to programme the computers, not letting the computers programme the kids.
