Happy Women’s History Month!
It is critical that we recognize, celebrate, and study the pioneers who inspire us. This Women’s History Month, I can’t stop thinking about two great women who changed the world, changed my life, and laid the foundation for the Constructing Modern Knowledge Summer Institute.
Dr. Cynthia Solomon
In 1967, Cynthia, along with Seymour Papert and Wally Feurzig created the first programming language for children, Logo. This in no small part created educational computing. Cynthia went on to be one of the designers of Apple Logo and the Director of the Atari Cambridge Research Lab. Over the decades, Cynthia has written seminal books on children, learning, and technology. Cynthia has been an indispensable member of the Constructing Modern Knowledge faculty since its inception. In 2016, Cynthia Solomon was the long-overdue recipient of the prestigious National Council of Women in Technology’s Pioneer Award.
The “mother of educational computing,” Dr. Cynthia Solomon will once again be part of the CMK faculty and participate in a panel discussion of educational legends at this summer’s institute. While Seymour Papert is no longer with us, we cherish the fact that Cynthia Solomon continues to grace us with her wisdom and insight. If you’d like to learn more about Cynthia’s remarkable life and contributions, please read my recent blog post about her.
Molly Lynn Watt
95% of what I know about teaching teachers, I learned from Molly Lynn Watt. She and her partner Dan ran the Logo Institute in the 1980s. It was there that many of the structures and pedagogical strategies employed so successfully at CMK were developed. Molly was not a technologist, but an activist, master educator, poet, and school administrator with deep roots in progressive education. She could also teach you to dance recursion! A social justice warrior with a lifetime of service, Molly Lynn Watt worked at the legendary Highlander Folk School in 1964.
Nothing made me happier than to share Molly and Dan as part of the Constructing Modern Knowledge faculty for several years. This July, Cynthia, Molly, and Dan will be part of our Legends Panel exploring the powerful ideas and potential that fuel CMK and inspire action after the institute. All three of these giants contributed brilliant essays to our book, Twenty Things to Do with a Computer Forward 50: Future Visions of Education Inspired by Seymour Papert and Cynthia Solomon’s Seminal Work.
Cynthia Solomon and Molly Lynn Watt’s participation in CMK is a priceless gift I can never repay.
I truly hope that you will seize the opportunity to spend time in the company of these great women at Constructing Modern Knowledge 2023!
July is just around the corner. See you in Manchester!
