Volume 18, No. 8, Issue 125
Tutor, Tool and Tutee, Revisited
Here’s some good news. Helping a child learn to program a computer has never been easier. Why is this important? It helps to recall a bit of history.
In 1980, Robert Taylor, a professor at Columbia Teacher’s college, put together a collection of essays on educational technology (see http://bit.ly/d8bR8w). In the book introduction, he defined three roles for computing in education: as a tutor (something that teaches you), tool (something you use to enhance your abilities) and tutee (something you teach or program). Now remember — back then, computers had 1 MHz processors and floppy drives.
Thirty years later, children are walking around with more computing power than NASA had to land on the moon. One of Taylor’s classifications, the computer as tutee — is once again very useful. That’s why, for this month’s LittleClickers column (p. 4) we took a closer look at helping children become teachers of the computer, aka programmers, a job made easier thanks to Scratch, App Inventor for Android (page 12) and Singing Fingers (page 10) and TonePad (page 10). See page 4 for more tips on helping children become programmers.
Other noteworthy products in this issue include Disney Pixar The World of Cars Online (www.worldofcars.com), another Oceanhouse app, Green Eggs & Ham (www.oceanhousemedia.com), and Zoodles, (www.zoodles.com).
Enjoy the issue, and have a wonderful summer!
Here’s the full reference to Taylor’s essay:
Taylor, R. P. (1980). Introduction. In R. P. Taylor (Ed.), The computer in school: Tutor, tool, tutee (pp. 1-10). New York: Teachers College Press.
CONTENTS FOR AUGUST — NEW CHILDREN’S INTERACTIVE MEDIA PRODUCTS (grouped by age)
Note that CTR is not advertising supported. Access to these review are available only to paid subscribers. Not a subscriber? It costs just $24/year. All links work in the PDF.
Preschool & Kindergarten
Dora’s Cooking Club, www.take2games.com, p.13
Green Eggs & Ham, www.oceanhousemedia.com, p.6
Kerpoof.com (update), www.kerpoof.com, p.14
We Did it Dora, www.fisher-price.com, p.17
Zoodles, www.zoodles.com, p.11
Early Elementary
Barbie Video Girl Doll, www.mattel.com, p.5
Disney Pixar The World of Cars Online (www.worldofcars.com), www.disney.com, p.6
Help the UFO HD, www.ar-entertainment.net, p.6
Kidz Bop Dance Party! The Video Game, www.d3publisher.us, p.15
Leapfrog Interactive United States Map, www.leapfrog.com, 7
Leapster Explorer: Ben 10 Ultimate Alien, www.leapfrog.com, p.7
Leapster Explorer: Disney Princess Pop-Up Story Adventures, www.leapfrog.com, p.8
Leapster Explorer: Penguins of Madagascar Operation Plushy Rescue, www.leapfrog.com, p.8
Learning to Tell Time is Fun HD, www.ar-entertainment.net, p.8
My First Weighing Exercises HD, www.ar-entertainment.net, p.9
Playnormous: Health Video Games, www.playnormous.com, p.16
SpyNet Video Watch, www.jakkspacific.com, p.17
Upper Elementary
Book Buddy, www.scobre.com, p.5
Chuck E. Cheese’s Party Games, www.ufointeractivegames.com, p.12
Despicable Me: The Game, www.d3publisher.us, p.13
Game Hits!, www.destineerstudios.com, p.14
Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole, www.warnerbros.com, p.15
Moonbase Alpha (www.moonbasealphagame.com), p.15
Nancy Drew: Trail of the Twister, www.herinteractive.com, p.16
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future, www.nintendo.com, p.16
Satisfashion!, www.destineerstudios.com, p.9
Seek Your Own Proof, www.seekyourownproof.com, p. 10
TonePad, www.tonepadapp.com, p.11
Middle School
Cages, The: Pro Style Batting Practice, www.konami.com, p.17
Captain Blood (www.captainbloodgame.com), www.1cpublishing.com, p.12
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies, www.nintendo.com, p.14
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1, www.ea.com, p.14
Kirby’s Epic Yarn, www.nintendo.com, p.15
My Tiny Planets (www.MyTinyPlanets.com), www.mytinyplanets.com, p.16
T.A.C. Heroes: The Big Red One, www.stormcityentertainment.com, p.10
Transformers: War for Cybertron, www.activision.com, p.11
All Ages
App Inventor for Android, www.google.com, p.12
Create on Disney.com (update) http://disney.go.com/create, www.disney.com, p. 13
Road Trip Bingo, www.brightbunnystudios.com, p.13
Singing Fingers, http://llk.media.mit.edu/, p.10
Apps
Road Trip Bingo, www.brightbunnystudios.com, p.9
Singing Fingers, http://llk.media.mit.edu, p.10
Help the UFO HD, www.ar-entertainment.net, p.6
Learning to Tell Time is Fun HD, www.ar-entertainment.net, p.8
My First Weighing Exercises HD, www.ar-entertainment.net, p.9
Green Eggs & Ham, www.oceanhousemedia.com, p.6
TonePad, www.tonepadapp.com, p. 11
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