Educators deserve to learn alongside experienced experts. That’s why Constructing Modern Knowledge 2015 has assembled a roster of legends unseen at any other professional learning event.

In case you were wondering, this revolution will not be streamed. Piaget taught us that knowledge is a consequence of experience and CMK is about experience and expertise. Best of all, you can still register!

Here is a sample of the living legends you can learn with this July 7-10 at CMK 2015!

  • Deborah Meier – MacArthur Genius Award winning teacher, school principal and author of seminal books like The Power of Their Ideas: Lessons from a Small School in Harlem and In Schools We Trust: Creating Communities of Learning in an Era of Testing and Standardization (4th time at CMK)
  • Dr. Leah Buechley – Pioneer in e-Textiles, conductive ink, and increasing diversity in experience and participation in the maker movement. She is the co-author of Sew Electric. (2nd year)
  • Edith Ackermann & Jean Piaget
    Edith Ackermann & Jean Piaget

    Dr. Edith Ackermann – Learning theorist specializing in the intersection of play, design, and learning who just happened to work with Jean Piaget, Ernst Van Glasserfeld, and Seymour Papert

  • Dr. Barry Harris – Lifetime Grammy Award recipient, National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, and pianist responsible for teaching generations of professional and amateur musicians
  • Jimmy Heath – National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, member of the legendary Heath Brothers, composer, arranger, saxophonist, university educator, author of I Walked with Giants: The Autobiography of Jimmy Heath.
  • Dr. Cynthia Solomon – We call her the Mother of Educational Computing. She was one of the three people principally responsible for inventing Logo, the first programming language for children in 1968 (Logo) and she also developed many of the metaphors we still use to teach children about computing. Sylvia’s seminal book, Computer Environments for Children: A Reflection on Theories of Learning and Education, is a must-read. (8th year)
  • David Loader, OAM – In 1989, this visionary Australian principal committed his school to every child having a personal laptop computer and programming across the curriculum – and that wasn’t his boldest achievement. His books include The Inner Principal. David was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for his service and accomplishments.
  • Jimmy front small
    Jazz Legend Jimmy Heath

    Brian Silverman – Brian has had a hand in creating most of the programming languages used by learners in the past forty years, including Apple Logo, Atari Logo, LogoWriter, Turtle Art, MicroWorlds, and Scratch. (7th year)

  • Dr. Daniel Lynn Watt – Engineer who wrote one of the best selling books on educational computing ever and who played a seminal role in early educational computing research.
  • Molly Lynn Watt  – teacher, principal, teacher educator, poet, activist, who taught generations of teachers to teach.
  • Dr. Eric Rosenbaum – His inventions include MaKey MaKey, Drawdio, Beetle Blocks, Glow Doodle, Singing Fingers and more.  Eric was also on the Scratch development team. (3rd time at CMK)
  • Grammy Lifietime Achievement Award Winner Dr. Barry Harris
    Grammy Lifietime Achievement Award Winner Dr. Barry Harris

    Dr. Brian Harvey – Brian is Computer Science Lecturer Emeritus at UC Berkeley where he taught computer science for decades in addition to his pioneering work in the development of Logo. Brian is also the creator of SNAP! and UCB Logo, in addition to the author of the book series, Computer Science Logo Style and Simply Scheme. He is currently bringing his Beauty and Joy of Computing to 100 NYC public schools.

  • Artemis Papert – Co-creator of Turtle Art and daughter of Seymour Papert (7th year)
  • Dr. Claudia Urrea – One of of Seymour Papert’s last doctoral students who has played a significant role in spreading constructionism and personal computing throughout Latin America and Africa.
  • Eric Rosenbaum & Marvin Minsky
    Eric Rosenbaum & Marvin Minsky

    Sherry Lassiter – Our host at the MIT Media Lab where she leads the non-profit Fab Foundation and teaches “How to Make Almost Anything.”

  • Brian C. Smith – A master learner, international educator, and indispensable member of the CMK team. (7th year)
  • Gary Stager and Sylvia Martinez – coauthors of Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom and your hosts at CMK.

CMK 2015 Fellows

Each of these educators are leaders in the field and play a critical role in the success of our institute.

  • Amy Dugré (7th year)
  • Tracy Rudzitis (6th year)
  • Josh Burker (4th year)
  • Jaymes Dec (4th year)