Computer Clubhouse

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The Computer Clubhouse is a worldwide network of after-school learning settings, founded by Mitchel Resnick of the MIT Media Lab in Boston, USA.

The network, which includes over 100 clubhouses as of 2007, began with the so-called Flagship Computer Clubhouse, founded in 1993 at The Computer Museum, now part of the Museum of Science, Boston.^[1]^[2] The network is particularly focused on economically disadvantaged communities.^[2]^[3]

Clubhouses have been the proving ground for a number of projects of the MIT Media Lab's "Lifelong Kindergarten" research group. Notable examples are

Scratch, an early 21st century multimedia programming language for young people^[4]
Lego Mindstorms programmable bricks, a late 20th century robotic construction toy^[2]
PICO programmable Crickets, early 21st century programmable toys for art construction projects^[5]^[6]

[edit] References

^ About the Clubhouse at computerclubhouse.org, retrieved on October 18, 2007.
^ ^a ^b ^c 1998, Resnick, M., Rusk, N., Cooke, S. "The Computer Clubhouse: Technological Fluency in the Inner City", published in: High Technology and Low-Income Communities edited by D. Schon, B. Sanyal, and W. Mitchell, MIT Press. Online version [1], retrieved on October 18, 2007.
^ New York Times, July 18, 2002. "Not Just Closing a Divide, but Leaping It" by Michel Marriott. Online edition retrieved on October 18, 2007.
^ 2004, Maloney, J., Burd, L., Kafai, Y., Rusk, N., Silverman, B. and Resnick, M., "Scratch: A Sneak Preview. Second International Conference on Creating, Connecting, and Collaborating through Computing, Kyoto, Japan, pp. 104-109. Online version retrieved on October 18, 2007.
^ Business Week, Sep 7, 2006 "Invasion of the DIY Robots" by Jessie Scanlon. Online edition retrieved on October 18, 2007.
^ MIT Spectrum, Winter 1998 "Smart Toys - Mitch Resnick builds a toy chest of learning tools". Retrieved on October 18, 2007.