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Seymour Papert is a mathematician, one of the early pioneers of Artificial Intelligence and internationally recognized as the seminal thinker about how computers can change learning.Papert was born and educated in South Africa where he participated actively in the anti-apartheid movement. From 1954-58 he pursued mathematical research at the universities of Cambridge and Paris. He worked with Jean Piaget at the university of Geneva from 1959-63 and it was this collaboration that led him to consider using mathematics in the service of understanding how children think and learn. In the early 60's Papert came to MIT where, with Marvin Minsky he founded the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and co-authored their seminal work Perceptrons.(1970) Dr. Papert is the inventor of the Logo computer language, the first and most important effort to give children control over new technology. He is the author of The Connected Family: Bridging the Digital Generation Gap (1996); Mindstorms: Children Computers and Powerful Ideas (1980) and The Children's Machine: Rethinking School in the Age of the Computer (1992) as well as numerous articles about mathematics, Artificial Intelligence, education, learning and thinking. In 1985 he was one of the founders of the Media Arts and Sciences Program and the MIT Media Laboratory and in 1988 he was named LEGO Professor of Learning Research, a chair created for him. His advice on technology-based educational methods has been sought internationally by governments and government agencies in Africa, Latin America, Europe and Asia. In the United States he is often called to testify before Presidential commissions and Congressional committees. He frequently speaks at meetings of school boards, School Board Associations, academic conferences and other gatherings concerned with the future of schooling. His work on education has been recognized by many awards including The Computerworld Smithsonian Award; The Marconi International Fellowship Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Software Publishers Association. |