One to one connections : building a community learning culture

The complexity of the school, society and policy, and dominant cultural beliefs about teaching, learning, and knowledge constrain people's mindsets, paradoxically preventing the fundamental changes that can take advantage of new technologies and address the inadequacies of current educational systems. The same constraints permeate reform efforts as most often the educational establishment tests the transformation of the system one element at a time while attempting to hold all other elements constant, thereby inhibiting more profound changes. The promise of one-to-one computer infrastructure provides such a dramatic alternative to current educational systems that it forces us to think about change at a deeper level, leaving us with the challenge of where to begin. The fundamental aim of this thesis is to study the potential of the one-to-one computer infrastructure as a catalyst for change. This thesis presents a holistic model for rural school that builds on a rich body of Constructionist learning research. Key components of the holistic model are: sufficient amount of student-owned technology which can accompany them as they interact at home and in the broader community; activities that are designed with sufficient scope to encourage the appropriation of powerful ideas; and, teacher engagement in activity design with simultaneous support from a knowledge network of local and international colleagues and mentors. I introduce the concept of "whole-project" learning, which strategically integrates the elements of the model, and introduces a learning approach that is fundamentally different from the existent methodology of work.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. Program in Media Arts and Sciences.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Author dc:creator

• Urrea, Claudia M

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Seymour Papert and Glorianna Davenport.

• Architecture. Program in Media Arts and Sciences.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/41706

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/41706