Marina Umaschi Bers

Last updated
Marina Umaschi Bers
Alma materMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Scientific career
Thesis Identity construction environments : the design of computational tools for exploring a sense of self and moral values  (2001)
Doctoral advisor Seymour Papert

Marina Umaschi Bers is the Augustus Long Professor of Education at Boston College. Bers holds a secondary appointment in Boston College's Department of Computer Science. Bers directs the interdisciplinary DevTech Research Group, which she started in 2001 at Tufts University. [1] Her research involves the design and study of innovative learning technologies to promote children's positive development. She is known for her work in the field of early childhood computer science with projects of national and international visibility. Bers is the co-creator of the free ScratchJr programming language, used by 35 million children, and the creator of the KIBO robotic kit, which has no screens or keyboards. [2]

Contents

Education

Marina Umaschi Bers went to Buenos Aires University in Argentina and received her undergraduate degree in Social Communications (1993). In 1994, she earned a master's degree in Educational Media and Technology from Boston University; she also has an M.S. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. [1] In 2001, she earned a Ph.D. from the MIT Media Laboratory working under the mentorship of Seymour Papert. [3]

In 2001, Bers created her research group, the Developmental Technologies, or DevTech, at the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development at Tufts University. [2] In 2018, she was named the chair of the Eliot-Pearson Dept. of Child Development. [4]  

In 2022, she moved to Boston College as the August Long Professor of Education at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development. [2] Bers received an appointment in Boston College's Department of Computer Science and is an affiliated faculty with the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society. [2] [3] [5]

Bers co-founded KinderLab Robotics in 2013, [6] and has worked with WGBH-TV and PBS on content for children's broadcasting. [1]

Research and work

Bers’ research centers around the potential of technology to foster the development of children. Her early work examined storytelling and language in children, [7] robotics in early childhood education, [8] [9] and the development of values in virtual environments. [10] In 2012 she developed the TangibleK robotics program to teach young children about the world of technology. [11] Bers developed the ScratchJr programming language collaboratively with Mitch Resnick, Paula Bonta, and Brian Silverman. [12] [13] ScratchJr targets children from ages 5 to 7, [14] and is an offshoot of Scratch which is used to teach programming to children from 8 to 16 computer programming. [15] [16] Bers also works to train childhood educators on the use of technology in the classroom [17] [18] and develops curriculum that can be used to teach programming and computational thinking. [19] She developed the KIBO robot kit, a robot that young children can program with wooden blocks and serves as a tool to teach children computer programming. [20]

Published books

Awards and honors

In 2005, Bers received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor given by the U.S. government to outstanding investigators. [2] She received a National Science Foundation (NSF)'s Young Investigator's Career Award, and the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Jan Hawkins Award for Early Career Contributions to Humanistic Research and Scholarship in Learning Technologies. [2] [1]

In 2015, she was chosen as one of the recipients of the Boston Business Journal’s Women to Watch in Science and Technology awards, and, in 2016, she received the Outstanding Faculty Contribution to Graduate Student Studies award at Tufts University. She was elected fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in 2022. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Logo (programming language)</span> Computer programming language

Logo is an educational programming language, designed in 1967 by Wally Feurzeig, Seymour Papert, and Cynthia Solomon. Logo is not an acronym: the name was coined by Feurzeig while he was at Bolt, Beranek and Newman, and derives from the Greek logos, meaning word or thought.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lego Mindstorms</span> Hardware and software platform by Lego

Lego Mindstorms is a discontinued line of educational kits for building programmable robots based on Lego bricks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MIT Media Lab</span> Research laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The MIT Media Lab is a research laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, growing out of MIT's Architecture Machine Group in the School of Architecture. Its research does not restrict to fixed academic disciplines, but draws from technology, media, science, art, and design. As of 2014, Media lab's research groups include neurobiology, biologically inspired fabrication, socially engaging robots, emotive computing, bionics, and hyperinstruments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constructionism (learning theory)</span> Learning theory involving the construction of mental models

Constructionist learning is the creation by learners of mental models to understand the world around them. Constructionism advocates student-centered, discovery learning where students use what they already know to acquire more knowledge. Students learn through participation in project-based learning where they make connections between different ideas and areas of knowledge facilitated by the teacher through coaching rather than using lectures or step-by-step guidance. Further, constructionism holds that learning can happen most effectively when people are active in making tangible objects in the real world. In this sense, constructionism is connected with experiential learning and builds on Jean Piaget's epistemological theory of constructivism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitchel Resnick</span> American academic and programmer

Mitchel Resnick is an American computer scientist. He is the LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab. As of 2019, Resnick serves as head of the Media Arts and Sciences academic program, which grants master's degrees and Ph.D.s at the MIT Media Lab.

MicroWorlds is a family of computer programs developed by Logo Computer Systems Inc. (LCSI) that uses the Logo programming language and a turtle-shaped object to teach language, mathematics, programming, and robotics concepts in primary and secondary education. The program was part of a larger set of dialects and implementations created by Seymour Papert aimed at triggering the development of abstract ideas by children through experimentation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Clubhouse Network</span> Out-of-school learning program

The Clubhouse Network, often shortened to "The Clubhouse," is an American nonprofit organization that provides a free out-of-school learning program where children from lower-income communities can work with adult mentors to explore their own ideas, develop new skills, and build confidence in themselves through the use of technology. Its motto is "Where Technology Meets Imagination."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scratch (programming language)</span> Programming language learning environment

Scratch is a high-level, block-based visual programming language and website aimed primarily at children as an educational tool, with a target audience of ages 8 to 16. Users on the site can create projects on the website using a block-like interface. Scratch was conceived and designed through collaborative National Science Foundation grants awarded to Mitchel Resnick and Yasmin Kafai. Scratch is developed by the MIT Media Lab and has been translated into 70+ languages, being used in most parts of the world. Scratch is taught and used in after-school centers, schools, and colleges, as well as other public knowledge institutions. As of 15 February 2023, community statistics on the language's official website show more than 123 million projects shared by over 103 million users, over 804 million total projects ever created, and more than 95 million monthly website visits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human–Computer Interaction Institute</span>

The Human–Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) is a department within the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is considered one of the leading centers of human–computer interaction research, and was named one of the top ten most innovative schools in information technology by Computer World in 2008. For the past three decades, the institute has been the predominant publishing force at leading HCI venues, most notably ACM CHI, where it regularly contributes more than 10% of the papers. Research at the institute aims to understand and create technology that harmonizes with and improves human capabilities by integrating aspects of computer science, design, social science, and learning science.

<i>Blocks to Robots</i> 2008 book by Marina Umaschi Bers

Blocks to Robots: Learning with Technology in the Early Childhood Classroom (2008) is an educational guide book by Marina Umaschi Bers that introduces the idea of learning with technology in the early childhood classroom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MIT App Inventor</span> Web application development environment

MIT App Inventor is a high-level block-based visual programming language, originally built by Google and now maintained by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It allows newcomers to create computer applications for two operating systems: Android and iOS, which, as of 25 September 2023, is in beta testing. It is free and open-source released under dual licensing: a Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license and an Apache License 2.0 for the source code. Its target is primarily children and students studying computer programming, similar to Scratch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yasmin Kafai</span>

Yasmin B. Kafai is a German American academic who is Professor of Learning Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, with a secondary appointment in Computer and Information Sciences at University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science. She is a past president of the International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS), and an executive editor of the Journal of the Learning Sciences.

Educational robotics teaches the design, analysis, application and operation of robots. Robots include articulated robots, mobile robots or autonomous vehicles. Educational robotics can be taught from elementary school to graduate programs. Robotics may also be used to motivate and facilitate the instruction other, often foundational, topics such as computer programming, artificial intelligence or engineering design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cynthia Solomon</span> Computer scientist

Cynthia Solomon is an American computer scientist known for her work in popularizing computer science for students. She is a pioneer in the fields of computer science, and educational computing. While working as a researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Solomon took it upon herself to understand and program in the programming language Lisp. As she began learning this language, she realized the need for a programming language that was more accessible and understandable for children. Throughout her research studies in education, Solomon worked full-time as a computer teacher in elementary and secondary schools. Her work has mainly focused on research on human-computer interaction and children as designers. While working at Bolt, Beranek and Newman, she worked with Wally Feurzeig and Seymour Papert, to create the first programming language for children, named Logo. The language was created to teach concepts of programming related to Lisp. Solomon has attained many accomplishments in her life such as being the vice president of R&D for Logo Computer Systems, Inc., when Apple Logo was developed and was the Director of the Atari Cambridge Research Laboratory. Solomon worked on the program committee of Constructing Modern Knowledge and the Marvin Minsky Institute for Artificial Intelligence in 2016. Further, she has published many writings based on research in the field of child education and technology in the classroom. Solomon has conducted workshops in elementary schools, high schools, and colleges regarding academic research and writing. She continues to contribute to the field by speaking at conferences and working with the One Laptop per Child Foundation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ScratchJr</span> Visual programming language

ScratchJr is a visual programming language designed to introduce programming skills to children ages 5–7. The app is considered an introductory programming language. It is available as a free app for iOS, Android and Chromebook.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natalie Rusk</span> Computer scientist

Natalie Rusk is a research scientist in the Lifelong Kindergarten (LLK) group, part of the MIT Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Makeblock</span>

Makeblock is a private Chinese technology company with headquarters in Shenzhen, China. It develops Arduino-based hardware, robotics hardware, and Scratch-based software for the purpose of providing educational tools for learning. This includes programming, engineering and mathematics through the use of robotics.

Paula Bonta is an Argentinian-Canadian computer scientist and educational software designer. She is known for developing programming environments for children, most notably contributing to the design of the Scratch programming language before it was even called Scratch. She co-founded the Playful Invention Company, a spin-off from the MIT Media Lab noted for developing the Programmable Cricket, with Mitchel Resnick and Brian Silverman and serves as Lead Designer. She was also the design director for several award-winning software products for children, including MicroWorlds and the "My Make Believe" series of products from Logo Computer Systems, Inc. She has a degree in computer science and a graduate degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swift Playgrounds</span> Development environment for Swift

Swift Playgrounds is an educational tool and development environment for the Swift programming language developed by Apple Inc., initially announced at the WWDC 2016 conference. It was introduced as an iPad application alongside iOS 10, with a macOS version introduced in February 2020. It is available for free via Apple's App Store for iPadOS and Mac App Store for macOS.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "CV for Marina Umaschi Bers" (PDF). May 7, 2021. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Otoka, Isabella (12 December 2022). "DevTech Research Group". DevTech Research Group. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 Bers, Marina (December 12, 2022). "Marinabers.com". Marina Bers' Website. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  4. ↑ "Marina Umaschi Bers, PhD | Professor and Chair, Eliot-Pearson Dept. of Child Study & Human Development; Dept. of Computer Science; Director, DevTech Research Group, Tufts University" . Retrieved 2021-12-12.
  5. ↑ "Marina Bers - Lynch School of Education and Human Development - Boston College". www.bc.edu. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  6. ↑ "Boston Business Journal announces 2015 Women to Watch in Science and Technology honorees". www.bizjournals.com. April 2, 2015. Retrieved 2021-12-12.
  7. ↑ Bers, Marina Umaschi; Cassell, Justine (1998). "Interactive Storytelling Systems for Children: Using Technology To Explore Language and Identity". Journal of Interactive Learning Research. 9 (2): 183–215. ISSN   1093-023X.
  8. ↑ Bers, Marina Umaschi (2008). Blocks to robots : learning with technology in the early childhood classroom. New York: Teachers College Press. ISBN   978-0-8077-4848-0. OCLC   156994433.
  9. ↑ Bers, Marina U.; Ponte, Iris; Juelich, Catherine; Viera, Alison; Schenker, Jonathan (2002). "Teachers as Designers: Integrating Robotics in Early Childhood Education". Information Technology in Childhood Education Annual. 2002 (1): 123–145. ISSN   1522-8185.
  10. ↑ Umaschi Bers, Marina (2001-10-01). "Identity Construction Environments: Developing Personal and Moral Values Through the Design of a Virtual City". Journal of the Learning Sciences. 10 (4): 365–415. doi:10.1207/S15327809JLS1004new_1. ISSN   1050-8406. S2CID   220461125.
  11. ↑ Bers, Marina U. (2010). "The TangibleK Robotics Program: Applied Computational Thinking for Young Children". Early Childhood Research & Practice. 12 (2). ISSN   1524-5039.
  12. ↑ "What is ScratchJr?". ScratchJr. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  13. ↑ "Coding for kindergarteners: App teaches kids computer basics". www.cbsnews.com. October 1, 2014. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  14. ↑ Flannery, Louise P.; Silverman, Brian; Kazakoff, Elizabeth R.; Bers, Marina Umaschi; Bontá, Paula; Resnick, Mitchel (2013-06-24). "Designing ScratchJr". Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children. IDC '13. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. pp. 1–10. doi:10.1145/2485760.2485785. ISBN   978-1-4503-1918-8. S2CID   6439406.
  15. ↑ Strawhacker, Amanda; Lee, Melissa; Caine, Claire; Bers, Marina (2015-06-21). "ScratchJr demo". Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children. IDC '15. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. pp. 414–417. doi:10.1145/2771839.2771867. ISBN   978-1-4503-3590-4. S2CID   10064947.
  16. ↑ Bers, Marina Umaschi (2018). "Coding, playgrounds and literacy in early childhood education: The development of KIBO robotics and ScratchJr". 2018 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON). pp. 2094–2102. doi:10.1109/EDUCON.2018.8363498. ISBN   978-1-5386-2957-4. S2CID   44071304.
  17. ↑ Bers, Marina; Seddighin, Safoura; Sullivan, Amanda (2013). "Ready for Robotics:Bringing together the T and E of STEM in early childhood teacher education". Journal of Technology and Teacher Education. 21 (3): 355–377. ISSN   1059-7069.
  18. ↑ Bers, Marina Umaschi; Flannery, Louise; Kazakoff, Elizabeth R.; Sullivan, Amanda (2014-03-01). "Computational thinking and tinkering: Exploration of an early childhood robotics curriculum". Computers & Education. 72: 145–157. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2013.10.020. ISSN   0360-1315.
  19. ↑ Bers, Marina Umaschi (2020-10-06). Coding as a Playground: Programming and Computational Thinking in the Early Childhood Classroom (2 ed.). New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781003022602. ISBN   978-1-003-02260-2. S2CID   241551929.
  20. ↑ "'Coding is the new literacy': How STEM toys teach kids programming skills". www.msn.com. October 19, 2021. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.