Computer Science Luminaries Papert, Minsky, and Kay Examine Future Interaction Design for Children at IDC 2004, 1-3 June, University of Maryland

Seymour Papert, Marvin Minsky and Alan Kay speak about the digital cultural revolution as it relates to children and education at the Third International Conference on Interaction Design and Children, June 1-3, University of Maryland. Computing has gone beyond sitting and staring at a screen and pecking at a hard plastic box. We need to understand how the world of education should change the technologies we make.

New York, NY; College Park, MD (PRWEB) May 26, 2004 -- The digital cultural revolution is beginning to transform the life and learning of children" says Seymour Papert, MIT Lego Chair.

This revolution requires swift and thorough examination of how to best design and implement technology. Papert along with Marvin Minsky and Alan Kay will open the Third International Interaction Design and Children conference (www.idc2004.org) by examining what can be learned from the past as future technologies are developed.

Computing has gone beyond sitting and staring at a screen and pecking at a hard plastic box. We need to understand how the world of education should change the technologies we make. It is not adequate to merely use computers in the classroom as just another media, to replace books and filmstrips. New technologies are needed to fit the requirements of education and we need to understand how the technologies we make can change the way people learn," says Allison Druin, Assistant Professor at The University of Maryland and IDC 2004 Chair. We chose Papert, Minsky and Kay because of their long-standing and profound interest in education and technology."

The annual IDC Conference is the premier worldwide forum for the exchange of information on all aspects of interaction design for children. The conference features a three day program full of presentations, tutorials, workshops and networking opportunities. Designers, educators, and students from around the world join in exploring and creating the future of interaction design for children. This years conference is June 1-3 and is hosted by the University of Maryland, College Park.

IDC conferences are sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (ACM SIGCHI) as well as the National Science Foundation, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Fisher-Price, LeapFrog and Organa.

For more information, contact the IDC 2004 Conference Office at: (301) 405-2769, send e-mail to idc2004-info@cs.umd.edu or consult the IDC 2004 Web site at: http://www.IDC2004.org

Editors contact: Rosemary W. Stevens,
idc2004-info@cs.umd.edu or (650) 494-2800.
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