Logo

Draft

This article is in a large part a synthesis of Rieber 1996

Definition

Logo is a type of programming microworld that emerged in the mid-1960s.

• Logo is also associated with a philosophy of education related to discovery learning and it is a generic name for a continually evolving family of computer languages.

• The logo family computer languages are designed to transform computers into flexible tools to aid in learning, in playing, and in exploring. (Abelson, 1982, p. ix)

Discussion

The Logo language was not designed with the principal aim to teach programming. Its learning environments articulate the principle that giving people personal control over powerful computational resources can enable them to establish intimate contact with profound ideas from science, from mathematics, and from the art of intellectual model building.

However, this did not happen. Logo wound up being "just" the first programming language taught to children, before it was replaced by less interesting objectives such as making web pages.

... of course, this part should be developed

Essentials of the logo language

Logo was particularly distinguished from other programming languages by its use of turtle geometry. Users, as young as preschoolers, successfully learned to communicate with an object called a “turtle,” commanding it to move around the screen or on the floor using commands such as FORWARD, BACK, LEFT, and RIGHT. As the turtle moved, it could leave a trail, thus combining the user’s control of the computer with geometry and aesthetics. Logo was deliberately designed to map onto a child’s own bodily movements in space. By encouraging children to “play turtle,” thousands of children learned to control the turtle successfully in this way.

Later, Logo was interfaced with LEGO bricks (although later Lego decided to use an other language in the commercial LEGO mindstorms products.

Most recent developments (e.g. in the MIT Media Lab) include augmented reality, ubiquitous computing, etc. in their designs.

See also: [[Miroworld]s

References

• Abelson, H. (1982). Logo for the Apple II. Peterborough. NH: BYTE/McGraw Hill.

• Papert, S. (1980), Mindstorm: Children, Computers and Powerful Ideas, New York: Basic Books.

• Rieber, L. P. (1996) Microworlds, in Jonassen, David, H. (ed.) Handbook of research on educational communications and technology. Handbook of Research for Educational Communications and Technology. Second edition. Simon and Schuster, 583-603 ISBN 0-02-864663-0