Volume 9 Number 2 Journal of the ISTE Special Interest Group for Logo-Using Educators October 1990 Founding Editor Contents Tom Lough From the (Guest) Editor- How Soon They Forget Editor-In-Chief Dave Moursund Sharon Yoder 2 International Editor Monthly Musings- Should the Turtle Go to High School? Dennis Harper Tom Lough 3 Contributing Editors Eadie Adamson Beginner's Comer-What's Cooking? Gina Bull Dorothy Fitch 4 Glen Bull Frank Corley Questions Please! Doug Clements Frank Corley 7 Sandy Dawson Dorothy Fitch Judi Harris Logo Spirograph Marte Homey Paula Sarver 8 SIGLogo Board of Directors Logo Ideas- The Name's the Project, fQS.(ition) Gary Stager, President Is the Game Lora Friedman, Vice-President Eadie Adamson 12 Bev and Lee Cunningham, Secretary/Treasurer Logo LinX- Turtling Around in Circles Publisher Judi Harris 14 International Society for Technology in Education Thinking Like the Turtle Dave Moursund, Executive Officer Bert Eliason 16 Anita Best, Managing Editor Talbot Bielefeldt, Associate Editor Marte Horney, SIG Coordinator Logo Connections- Creating a Hypermedia Adventure Lynda Ferguson, Advertising Coordinator Story with Logo Ian Byington, Production Glen L. Bull and Gina L. Bull 22 Advertising space in each issue of Logo Exchange is limited. Extra for Experts- Fractals ll: Representations Please contacttheAdvenisingMgr.foravailability and details. Mark Homey 26 Logo Exchange is the journal of the International Society for Technology in Education Special Interest Group for Logo­ MathWorlds- Chaotic Attractors in Logo using Educators (SIGLogo), published monthly September Hannu Korhonen through May by ISTE, University of Oregon, 1787 Agate Sandy Dawson, editor Street, Eugene, OR 97403-9905, USA; 5031346-4414. This 30 publication was produced using Aldus PageMalcer®. Logo: Search and Research- Turtle Soup: A Beginning POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Logo Exchange, Look at Logo Research U of 0, 1787 Agate St., Eugene, OR 97403. Second-class Douglas Clements 32 postage paid at Eugene OR. USPS #000-554. Global Logo Comment- Logo at the WCCE Dennis Harper, editor 36 < --·- : ) -~~~n j:~=i~~· \ ----- -------------- -- - -------------------- ---------------- --------- -- ---- ------ .-------- -------- ----------------------- .. -- -- -- .. -- .. ,'~~i!~~~~.i:: ._.:_.___ ,_._·_•_•• ,._,_ ••_._._ .• ,._,,'_,•,._.,._-•,.,,_.,•_,·,·_ •. _., •._,•---~_!. __t_.t __ ·-~-·-e,k_·_,_·,~_._·_·-.wor._._-_--~_-_._~.·,·_,·~-··_• __•• _-·_•_._._• __,_._., •. _;-_, •._._._._··_.--•_·~ent• __ :_~.,_:_:_·_._·-·the·-·-~-C_._._._._._Q-~--_![_._.;m_··-·~-•~-·_._:_-_._._._~_:_·--_,t_.,·_ww_ •._.~,~-•.·-•--,;-,·_.~_=_·,·· .._.,••.__ ~_._~_'_._~,··_·.oo- .•_~---I·_·,·~-~,·._._._. ,·-·-~·,····--·_i_-___ •..•.•. b.•.m_._ili.·_·-•.•_·_._-•_us_-_ .•,L_-_._._m ,!_._._•_._l&lr•;__ ~J=~cii:!@:~:: • } ~~~ ~<>u-. • uu.~r•"~~-"~ _..,., Page2 -----LoG 0 EXCHANGE -----Dr.~· October 1990 How Soon They Forget better problem solvers both within the Logo environment and by David Moursund in other areas. Unfortunately, that is just not true. The research says that In this issue of LX, Dennis Harper provides a brief report such discovery of powerful ideas and transfer to other areas on Logo at the World Educational Computing Conference that does not occur without the help of well qualified teachers and was recently held in Australia. He reports: without an instructional environment explicitly designed to help increase ttansfer. (See Doug Clements' column, Search During one crowded session, Seymour Papen made and Research, in this issue.) In recent years, Seymour Papert some statements, filling in for one of the panelists. has repeatedly emphasized this point in the talks he has An Australian teacher asked SIGLogo president presented at conferences. Logo cannot stand by itself. Its Gary Stager, "Who was that guy?" When Gary told success in education depends on well qualified and motivated her it was Seymour Papert she replied, "How do you teachers who have a good understanding of what they are spell Papert?" working to accomplish as they place their students in a Logo environment. This statementreally struck a note with me. It suggests that the Australian teacher had enough interest to attend a Logo About two years ago, Sharon Yoder and I published a session, but was not familiar with the work of Seymour Papert series of articles in LX on Logo and problem solving. We and his seminal work in helping to create Logo. While it is emphasized that Logo provides a rich environment for the painful for long-time Logo users to admit this possibility, it explicit teaching of many important problem solving ideas. does reflect a maturation of Logo. Logo is an idea that We have continued to work on those ideas in the ensuing transcends its creators and early disciples. months. Most recently we completed two short books on these ideas: Introduction to Logo Writer and Problem Solving for Logo has come a long way in the past 20 years. It has Educators, and introduction to Logo Plus and Problem Solv­ made significant conuibutions to the overall field of comput­ ing for Educators The concepts needed to get started using ers in education, has been vastly changed and improved Logo and the explicit teaching of problem solving are woven through a process of continual formative and summative together throughout the books. evaluation, and has spread worldwide. Logo's ability to captivatenovicecomputerusingteachersremainsasstrongas These books are designed to be used in a two to three ever. It is obvious that Logo will continue to be a major force week introduction to Logo. The problem solving ideas in both in computer education for the foreseeable future. books are the same, and are independent of any particular version of Logo. If you are a teacher of teachers. ISTE would I would have liked to have had the chance to talk to the be happy to provide you with a free examination copy of one Australian teacher who was not familiar with Seymour Papert. of these books. Write to Sharon Yoder at ISTE and indicate I would have asked her about how she felt Logo could be used which one you would like to receive. Let her know that you to help her students. I wonder if she would display under­ read about this free offer in LX! standing of some of Seymour Papert's powerful ideas on creating learning environments in which students get better at Dave Moursund is Executive Officer ofiSTE, super­ problem solving? vises masters and doctoral programs in computers in education at the University of Oregon, and has This past summer I taught a course entitled Frontiers of written numerous books and articles in the area of Computers in Education. One of the topics we covered was computers in education. roles of computers in problem solving. The class got into a rather heated discussion about "pure" discovery-based learn­ Dave Moursund ing versus "guided" discovery versus direct instruction. One ISTE of my doctoral students had just finished a dissertation on the 1787 Agate Street issue of transfer of learning in problem solving, so I was Eugene. OR 97403 somewhat familiar with the current research and underlying BITNET: ISTE@Oregon ideas. Many Log<rusing educators seem to feel that if students are placed in a Logo environment, they will discover Sharon Yoder for themselves powerful ideas that will help them to become ISTE BITNET: YODER@Oregon October 1990 ··-·-----LOGO EXCHANGE -----1~ Page3 S~ould the' Turtle Go to Hjgh School? students with Logo experience who have some idea what the by Tom Lough language can really do. I really feel frustrated for those students, because they are in a position for some very special learning experiences that will never come to pass if they fmish Logo? Ah,.yes, the comp,uter language for children. high school, without ever invoking their Logo skills. Yes, Logo is the language for children. B utit comp~ier I hope you are as tired as I am of Logo not getting the is also the computer language for many other people, too. "respect" it deserves. What can and should we do about that? And I'm tired of it getting a bum rap! Why not write to CLIME for information about their organi­ zation? (10 Bogert Avenue, White Plains, NY 10606.) Get During the past few Il!Onths, I have been ma\Qng confer­ oneormoreoftheMITLogo books and show them to students ence presentations about the potential of Logo use in secon­ and secondary teachers. Learn something about LogoWriter dary education. In partieular, I discussed Logo possibilities Secondary or Logo PLUS. Try to find some way to encourage in secondary mathematics topics at tb,e1lilllual meeting of the high school students and their teachers. Students might be National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in Salt Lake surprised at how much high school learning they could ac­ City, and spoke on Logo use in secondary science and mathe" complish. High school teachers will most likely be flabber­ matics at the World Conference on Computers in Education gasted! in Sydney, Australia Then something just might begin to happen. And it's In both cases, the presentations were well attended, and about time. included those who were already using Logo as well as many who were not familiar with it In both presentations, the Until then, attendees gave a remarkably enthusiastic reception to the ideas and examples presented. When given an appropriate FD 100! introduction to Logo with relevant examples, these secon­ dary teachers appeared to be more than wiling to give it a try. Tom Lough Founding Editor I do not believe that my presentation was particularly POBox394 innovative. I simply reported my professional experiences Simsbury, CT 06070 and my assessment of Logo use at the higher grade levels.