[MWForum]Status of Logo, research summary
Steve Robson
mwforum@lists.mathcats.com
Sun, 25 Jul 2004 18:31:03 +0000
<html><div style='background-color:'><P>As a rider to Craig's interesting comments, some colleagues may be interested to know that many of the children I have worked with using Microworlds (of various flavours) have subsequently downloaded and used the demo program from the LCSI website. It may not be ideal, but it does go some way towards addressing the inclusion and social issues which inform our thinking when, as educators, we are deciding which software to use.</P>
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<P>The student license is another option worth looking at, especially if the institution can support as necessary.</P>
<P>An interesting debate and good use of the forum IMHO.</P>
<P>Cheers,</P>
<P>Steve</P>
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<P><STRONG><FONT color=#6699cc>Steve Robson<BR>csmdigital</FONT></STRONG></P></DIV>From: "cy" <yagerc7@msn.com> Reply-To: mwforum@lists.mathcats.com To: <mwforum@lists.mathcats.com> Subject: Re: [MWForum]Status of Logo, research summary Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2004 10:17:23 -0600 Status of Logo, research summaryKaren, So sorry I missed participating in your study. I am a voice from the past and the present concerning Logo. I use it every day in several different ways. At our school, we have an extensive Lego lab ($8,000 worth of grants over the past 24 years ~ three implementations: the original Lego TC Logo, Dacta Control Lab, and Mindstorms). We have a site license for MicroWorlds Pro. We will be trying out EX Robotics this fall. Our Gifted and Talented people use the programs. Our At-Risk, Special Ed. and ESL students flourish with it. And it is applied in math and science units. Far from being a thing of the past, it is very current and very much a positive tool. We have connections with engineering professors at the University of Colorado who use Mindstorms in their classes. Far from being a distraction from the rigors of highstakes testing, our students have concrete experiences upon which to base their understandings that show up in testing. We have gone from being a reatively low scoring school because of our demographics that include many ESL learners, immigrant and low income housing families, a lot of at-risk and special ed. students... and over the 27 years that I have been teaching here risen to a HIGH-rating on the state report card. In the summers, I- teach an Introduction to Logo Programming at St. Michael's College in Burlington, Vt. where the programming course is a requirement for an IT master's and also seen as a valid course in the state endorsement process. Although it may appear from your findings the Logo is not a viable tool, it is a diamond waiting to be discovered. Papert's vision is vibrant and workable. It is alive and well here in Boulder, Colorado. Thanks for sending me your study. Craig ----------------------------------------------------------------- Craig Yager, IB-PYP Coordinator, Grade 5 Teacher Whittier International School Boulder, Colorado ----- Original Message ----- From: Karen Randall To: mwforum@lists.mathcats.com Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2004 9:29 AM Subject: [MWForum]Status of Logo, research summary My thanks to the 15 people who responded to the questions I posted about Logo on the Ed Tech, MicroWorlds and Logo forums. Several of you expressed interest in the outcome of the project, so here are my observations pulled from your comments. The sampling is not at all statistically relevant, still it was interesting to find some patterns to people's thoughts and experiences. 1. Current U.S. Logo users seem to have been at it for a long time. People wrote about having been introduced to Logo in 1972, or the 80's, or 1995. While many still actively include the language in their work, lots of comments I received were framed in the past tense. Sample comments: "I am convinced that it has great educational value to teach a little bit of programming.... Students practically taught each other how to use it. If I showed a student a cool little procedure, within days everyone in the class would know how to do it because the students would teach each other. It was the most fun class I have ever taught." "I am in the last years of my career and it will probably die here when I retire as no other faculty has shown any interest in its application." "I'm no longer a classroom teacher. If I was, not sure if I'd be using it or not. But I'm still convinced it has a lot of value even though it's not 'flavour of the month'." " Then I left. ... and MicroWorlds as a technology integration tool largely vaporized from the school." 2. The strongest responses that documented growing use in school settings came from England, and links to use in other parts of the world were also sent along. Comments: "We are currently evaluating MicroWorlds EX here in Northumberland (UK). ... The reception has been extremely positive with both staff and students." "Here in the UK, here in the UK, we use it a whole lot in primary education ! ... Our teachers are given extra professional development by working with the computer systems manager if they are not confident in working with Logo when they come to our school." 3. While MicroWorlds was referred to by many, there are strong advocates for other versions of Logo, in particular Visual Logic , StarLogo, MSWLogo and UCB Logo. 4. Logo users are a subculture, and joining the culture is not as easy. This is my own observation, based on an Internet and educational journal database search and personal experience. Once a new teacher is introduced to Logo in a math method class, he or she would have to be pretty motivated to track down the resources needed to really use it. I have not seen Logo-based offerings at resent teacher conferences in Minnesota, most journal citations are over 10 years old, and it takes a great deal of hunting and sorting to get at the specifics of potential curriculum projects posted on the web. 5. The issues contributing to the limited use of Logo are the same ones affecting the application of constructivist theory in general. The current educational climate was cited by many as the reason programming and project-style investigations are a shrinking part of school curriculum. Where programming is taught, there is a debate as to whether the instruction should be in languages which have a marketplace use. Sample comments: "The summer before testing was implemented all schools officially abandoned Logo. A handful of teachers (3) now teach it on the black market so to speak. ...But in all cases in Colorado, it must be carefully hidden because the test drives everything. A teacher who blatantly taught Logo would run the risk of censure if his students did not also perform very well on the standardized exams. Very few teachers have enough confidence to risk that." "The current teach to the test mind frame makes it difficult for teachers to spend time on projects based learning even if they have skills and inclination to do so." "The learning curve for teachers can be fairly steep" "* not all learners are suited or ready for the demands of problem-solving with Logo * very few teachers are suited or ready for it - effective learning through Logo requires quite a hand-over of autonomy in my opinion * teachers who taught programming from a commercial perspective didn't like it because it encourages 'bottom-up' rather than 'topdown' approaches * it's all about the process but teachers often focus on the product * it's challenging *and* content-free, the opposite of what many decision-makers think is important in education * working with Logo looks a little too much like play for some people's comfort" "Since administrators got through their school lives without learning anything about computer programming, it is largely a mystery to them, and many cannot appreciate its inherent value nor the beauty and simplicity of Logo. Not one single course in programming is required for the Educational Technology Master's degree." 6. My overall conclusion is that for a variety of reasons, Logo's technology innovation and integration wave crested a while ago but the arguments for its use remain strong. To remain viable a new generation of educators will need access to resources, training and support for implementation. Karen Randall St. Paul, MN krandall@ties2.net </DIV></DIV></DIV></div><br clear=all><hr>Get a sneak preview of the new look MSN home page. <a href="http://g.msn.com/8HMAENUK/2731??PS=47575">Click here to take the tour!</a> </html>