We present a set of case studies in which students create, customize, and personalize their own scientific instruments – and thus become engaged in scientific inquiry not only through observing and measuring but also through designing and building. While computational technologies have, in general, contributed to making today’s scientific instruments more “opaque ” (that is, less understandable) and less aesthetically-pleasing than their predecessors, we argue that these same technologies can be used to bring back a sense of transparency and aesthetics to the design of scientific instruments. We analyze how students, by building their own scientific instruments, can: pursue a broader range of scientific investigations of their own choosing, feel a stronger sense of personal investment in their scientific investigations, and develop deeper critical capacities in evaluating scientific measurements and knowledge.

1 Situated Support for Learning: Storm’s Weekend with Rachael While much attention has been paid to the content of support for learning, less attention has been given to its context. This paper introduces the notion of “situated support, ” and argues that the identity of the source of support and the connectedness of that support to other elements of the learning environment are of primary importance. MOOSE Crossing is a text-based virtual reality environment (or “MUD”) designed to be a constructionist learning environment for children eight to thirteen years of age. A microanalysis is presented of the situated nature of support for learning on MOOSE Crossing over the course of one weekend where a twelve-year-old girl learned to write simple computer programs.

The KBS Hyperbook System is a system which uses explicit conceptual models and meta data to structure and connect external data. When these external data are pages on the WWW, the corresponding conceptual model takes the role of an information index and determines the navigational structure between these pages (corresponding to one or more views on the external data). The conceptual model also serves as a schema for the integration of new pages (similar to the role of a database schema). In this paper we show how such a model can be used to support two main aspects of constructivist learning in a computer supported teaching environment, namely the integration of student projects into hyperbook based lecture material and the implementation and visualization of student annotations.

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If design research involving technology-based tools is going to impact educational settings, the design process must be extended beyond the tool itself to encompass a broader range of factors such as the classroom social structures (e.g., beliefs about learning and knowledge, learning activities and participant structures, configurations of both physical space and cyberspace). Although prior research has underscored the importance of classroom social structures in technology integration, it has failed to specify the critical design variables that must be taken into account. Only by understanding the critical variables involved is it possible to develop a deep understanding of how and why things work. The Social Infrastructure Framework systematically frames the critical design elements in terms of 4 dimensions: (a) cultural beliefs, (b) practices, (c) socio-techno-spatial relations, and (d) interaction with the “outside world. ” This article details the design issues associated with each dimension based on examples drawn from a range of educational technologies. This article also describes how the framework can serve to advance the methodology of design research by serving as a tool for both design and analysis. Since the 1990s, starting with papers by Brown (1992) and Collins (1992), there has been a growing movement to develop a new methodology for carrying out studies of educational interventions under the labels design research, design experiments, anddesign studies. Various researchers have contributed to the effort

In recent years, a growing number of researchers and educators have argued that design projects provide rich opportunities for learning. To support this type of learning, educational researchers have developed computational environments (such as Logo and LEGO/Logo) that enable children to design their own animated stories, simulations, and even robotic constructions. The rise of the Internet presents an opportunity for new types of design activities, enabling kids to create projects that reach a larger audience than ever before. Some kids are beginning to create their own home pages on the World Wide Web. With the Java programming language, people can now create increasingly sophisticated Web pages with dynamic, interactive content. But Java is intended for expert programmers, not children. This thesis describes a new programming language and environment called Bongo that brings the power of Java to kids. In particular, it discusses a construction kit written in Bongo that enables kids...

This paper tells the story of the design, development, and implementation of a technology-rich after school program. Through the examination of the original design of Kids Learning in Computer Klubhouses (KLICK!) and its diverse realizations in 10 middle schools, we are able to identify the spirit of this after school program (freedom to learn, production of meaningful "works," and collaboration) and factors that hindered its realization: the culture of schooling and inflexible interpretation of the design. The paper also discusses issues of innovation, localization of innovations, and the reciprocal redefinition of innovations. 3 A Clubhouse is a Clubhouse is a Clubhouse Yong Zhao Punyashloke Mishra Mark Girod Michigan State University Club: an association of persons for some common object usually jointly supported and meeting periodically; also : a group identified by some common characteristic -- Merriam Webster Dictionary Consider for example the proceedings that we call "games"....

Stories take hundreds of different forms and serve many functions. They can be as energetic as an entire life story or as simple as a case of directions to a favorite beach. Storytelling processes are challenged and changed by technological developments in the worlds of text and image manipulation. The invention of writing changed the story from an orally recounted form which was mediated by the storyteller, to a recorded exact version, instead of a fleeting experience, a spoken weaving of a storyteller's tale. The story became an immutable object. In cinema stories are told with a sequence of juxtaposed still images moving at a speed fast enough to fool the eye into seeing a continuously changing image instead of one image after another. Television eventually coerced storytelling into 30-minute segments linked together, week by week, over a season broadcast to a large audience. The invention of the computer allowed storytelling to become flexible within a smaller granularity of content. Using the computer capabilities for storage and manipulation of information, authors can design stories and present them to different viewing audiences in different ways. Mobile computing, like the technological developments that came before it, will demand its own storytelling processes and story forms. This thesis defines a specific storytelling process, which I call Transactional Storytelling.

Technology has changed a great deal in the 15 years since we started the first Computer Clubhouse. At the time, no one was carrying around cell phones. Most people had never heard of the Internet. The most popular websites today – such as Google, Yahoo, and YouTube – did not yet exist. Although technologies have changed radically, the motivations and needs that led to starting the Computer Clubhouse program have remained the same and continue to drive the program today. So we find it useful to reflect back on the ideas and issues that sparked us to start the first Clubhouse. In this chapter we tell the story of the origins of the first Computer Clubhouse and then discuss the four core principles that have guided the development of the Clubhouse program since its beginning more than 15 years ago. How the Computer Clubhouse Started The first Computer Clubhouse was created in response to a

Abstract. This article describes an urban experiment in community-based robotics deployed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during 2007 and 2008. Twenty-one community-based organizations deployed robotics workshops, exhibits and curated pieces throughout the city, creating a space for technology fluency and exposition throughout the urban landscape, from galleries and schools to parks. The details of the creative design and arts approach employed and the results garnered elucidate our definitions of technology fluency, community-based robotics and the city-wide impact possible through synchronized outreach activities deployed at a large scale.