LOGO
You really learn something when you instruct a computer to do it.
LOGO is a computer language developed initially at MIT under the direction of Seymour Papert. With a few simple primitives learners can explore both geometrical ideas from the point of view of a turtle (local geometry) and also string processing. It is an excellent medium for expressing understanding in computational terms with screen output.
Main Section
Turtle (local) geometry uses local commands such as forward 10, backward 20, right 90, and left 30 to drive a turtle around the screen.
String processing enables the user to write poem-generators and to express combinatorial procedures on lists.
There are several free versions of LOGO available on the web.
In the 1980s there was great hope that every child would use LOGO in order to enact mathematical ideas (such as turn or angle) and many others accessible through LOGO. [see Papert 1980, 1993 ].
LOGO has been developed into STAR LOGO (thousands of turtles able to interact with each other and so simulate social interactions) and BOXER (using the metaphor of a procedure as a box with a display screen on its lid).
LOGO is especially good for exploring recursively specified procedures [see
recursive relations]There are many different resources for teaching mathematics with LOGO [see Cuoco 1990]
Probes & Prompts
How else can learners really learn if not by programming a computer to act on their behalf?
Taking Action
Obtain a version of LOGO for your personal use and explore some mathematical situations: a place to start is by making regular polygons of specified number of edges and edge length.
Case Studies
Research Sources
Papert, S (1980). Mind Storms, New York: Basic Books.
Papert, S. (1993). The children's machine: rethinking school in the age of the computer. New York: Basic Books.
Cuoco, A. (1990). Investigations in Algebra (Exploring with LOGO). Cambridge: MIT Press.
See Also
Categories
Didactics