Is There Enough Sugar in Your Technology Diet?

David D. Thornburg, PhD

Abstract:

The Sugar user interface for the MIT One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project represents the first truly new computer user interface in the past thirty years. Furthermore, this novel interface can be used on computers you probably already have in your schools. Based on elements of cognitive and social constructivism, Sugar builds on the work of Seymour Papert and others to transform student use of technology both inside and outside the classroom.

This session, by one of the volunteer developers on part of the OLPC project, explores the origins of the current desktop interface developed while the presenter was at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) in the 1970's, and why this interface is sub-optimal for children. We then explore the Sugar interface and the embedded activities from both a pedagogical and technical perspective. Because the OLPC software is open source, participants will be provided with free access to a version of Sugar they can run on their own computers to see where this interface is today, and where it might be headed in the near future.

Topics include:
• The origins of the Desktop metaphor – an accident of history
• Piaget, Vygotsky, Papert, and today's children
• A look at Sugar
• The problem of “nouns” in a “verb” centered world
• When hierarchal file systems fail
• Why activities are more important than applications

If you've read about the OLPC, you may think of this as a “hardware” project. This session shows that it is far more than that – it is a philosophical movement of depth that all educators should know about.

Presentation type...	Keynote or Featured Speaker Breakout
Audience................	All
Duration.................	1 hour
Handouts................	“Live” CD of Sugar and embedded activities

Dr. Thornburg will gladly tailor any presentation to your specific needs.