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Engineering Play: A Cultural History of Children's Software - Couverture rigide

Livre 2 sur 14: The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning

Ito, Mizuko

 
9780262013352: Engineering Play: A Cultural History of Children's Software
Couverture rigide
ISBN 10 : 0262013355 ISBN 13 : 9780262013352
Editeur : The MIT Press, 2009

Synopsis

How the influential industry that produced such popular games as Oregon Trail and KidPix emerged from experimental efforts to use computers as tools in child-centered learning.

Today, computers are part of kids' everyday lives, used both for play and for learning. We envy children's natural affinity for computers, the ease with which they click in and out of digital worlds. Thirty years ago, however, the computer belonged almost exclusively to business, the military, and academia. In Engineering Play, Mizuko Ito describes the transformation of the computer from a tool associated with adults and work to one linked to children, learning, and play. Ito gives an account of a pivotal period in the 1980s and 1990s, which saw the rise of a new category of consumer software designed specifically for elementary school-aged children. “Edutainment” software sought to blend various educational philosophies with interactive gaming and entertainment, and included such titles as Number Munchers, Oregon Trail, KidPix, and Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?.

The children's software boom (and the bust that followed), says Ito, can be seen as a microcosm of the negotiations surrounding new technology, children, and education. The story she tells is both a testimonial to the transformative power of innovation and a cautionary tale about its limitations.

Les informations fournies dans la section « Synopsis » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

À propos de l'auteur

Mizuko Ito is a cultural anthropologist who studies new media use, particularly among young people, in Japan and the United States, and a Professor in Residence at the University of California Humanities Research Institute.

Les informations fournies dans la section « A propos du livre » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

Éditeur
The MIT Press
Date d'édition
2009
Langue
anglais
ISBN 10 
0262013355
ISBN 13 
9780262013352
Reliure
Relié
Nombre de pages
248
Coordonnées du fabricant
non disponible
Personne responsable
non disponible