Digital Castles

 Digital Sandcastles

My favorite part of going to the beach as a child (and even still today) was always exploring rock pools and building sand castles… little did I know that I was learning in the moment. I vividly remember my Pop telling me about all the pipi’s and other seashore creatures. I remember this because it was such an engaging experience and now is engrained in my memory.

After reading Digital Sandcastles by Idit Harel (2003) who uses the constructionist analogy of the building sandcastles to learn has allowed me to deepen my understandings of the theory, which was established by Seymour Papert. This constructioNist theory (stemmed from the constructiVist theory, where is where ) is when children learn whilst doing and creating which comes about un-expectantly. The only problem with the engaging experiences of the beach is that it doesn’t last, washed away along with the sandcastles and cannot be added to, reflected upon or extended.

Harel continues by recommending that in order to harness this natural learning experience in the classroom, we should do so through the use of computers.

Unlike the sandcastles of our yesteryears that have washed away many moons ago, the use of computers “offers a wide-open learning environment in which children can explore the world, express themselves, save their creations, revise and refine them over time and exchange ideas in ways that were simply not possible in the past”.

My own beliefs about being a life-long learner are resonated with one of the great artists, Picasso: “when did you learn to paint? How did you learn to be so creative?” Picasso- “You and I started learning at the same age, and I learnt the same way that you did. The difference is that you stopped.”

The websites linked to the literature do allow children to be in control of their learning, and I think we are very lucky to have all the resources available to us and we can really provide in the moment and meaningful learning experiences for our students!

Harel, I. (2003). Sand castles go digital. Retrieved August 4, 2006 at: http://www.mamamedia.com/areas/grownups/new/21_learning/sand_castles.html

Image: '"Castle Beach" – Singapore'

http://www.flickr.com/photos/84493444@N00/4268489129