Seymour Papert (1928-2016) was a visionary mathematician, computer scientist, and educational theorist whose pioneering work bridged the fields of technology and learning. He is widely known for his development of the constructionism learning theory and contribution to the development of Logo, a computer programming language designed as a tool for learning. He spent most of his career conducting research and teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in roles that included co-director of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Professor of Mathematics, Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Education, LEGO Professor of Learning Research and Research Group Leader at the MIT Media Lab. Papert was born in Pretoria, South Africa, in 1928. He completed a BA in Philosophy in 1949 and a doctorate in mathematics in 1952 at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. At Witwatersrand, Papert was a leading anti-apartheid activist. Having consequently run afoul of the authorities, he went into self-exile in the UK in 1954. While in the UK, Papert undertook a second doctorate in Mathematics at Cambridge University, which he completed in 1959. Papert's time in Europe expanded his intellectual horizons, introducing him to fields that would shape his future research. Towards the end of his doctoral work with Cambridge, he was based at the Henri Poincare Institute, the mathematics research arm of the Sorbonne in Paris. Here he attended lectures by Jean Piaget, the Swiss philosopher who was one of the pioneers of constructivism. This groundbreaking learning theory posited that children actively construct knowledge by reflecting upon their experiences of the world around them rather than passively receiving information through direct communication. On completion of his doctorate, accepted an invitation to join Piaget as a researcher at the International Centre of Genetic Epistemology based at the University of Geneva. Papert worked with Piaget between 1959 and 1963, generating new insights into how children learn to think mathematically. In the course of his work on knowledge and learning with Piaget, Papert began to engage with Artificial Intelligence (AI), an emergent field taking advantage of developments in computer technology. In 1963, he joined the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. As Resnick (2017) notes, in making this move, Papert went from the epicenter of a revolution in understanding child development and learning to the epicenter of the revolution in computing technology and "spent the following decades making connections between the two revolutions". Through the late 1960s and into the 1970s, Papert began to formalise his own learning theory that extended Piaget's ideas. Papert proposed the theory of constructionism, which posits that children construct knowledge most effectively when they are actively involved in constructing meaningful, shareable objects, be they physical, like a sandcastle, or intangible, such as a computer program. Indeed, Papert was one of the first to recognise the revolutionary potential of computers in educations and, in particular, that they could be used to empower children to learn through the creative process of exploration and experimentation. To bring the idea of constructionism to life, in the late 1960s Papert was involved in the development of a computer programming language for children, called Logo. This was truly visionary, given that very few people had even seen a computer at this time! Logo, a joint development of MIT and research consultancy Bolt, Beranek and Newman, would become a key tool of educational computing worldwide between the 1970s and 1990s. Papert saw programming not just as a technical skill but as a way for children to think about their thinking-a process he likened to debugging code. One of the key features of the software was a pixel Turtle that could be programmed to move and draw shapes on the screen, enabling children to engage with geometry, arithmetic, and logic in ways that felt creative and meaningful. Papert was instrumental in the subsequent development of Turtle robots that could be driven by Logo, taking the Turtle from screen to the ground. This connection between Logo computer programming and robotics was extended with the introduction of Logo-LEGO robotics in the late 1980s. Papert's role in this development is celebrated in the LEGO company's choice to name its robotics sets after his book 'Mindstorms' and provide an endowment to MIT now known as the LEGO Papert Professorship of Learning Research. Papert spent most of the remainder of his academic career at MIT undertaking research and development projects that sought to investigate learning, and the role digital technologies could play in education. In the late 1990s, Papert moved to Maine and continued working with young people and learning technologies through a range of projects, including establishing a Learning Lab at the Maine Youth Centre. In 2004, he co-founded the One-Laptop-Per-Child non-profit organisation which produced and distributed low-cost, low-power, rugged laptops to children in developing countries with the aim of enabling constructionist learning. Papert's significant contribution to educational computing and education more broadly has been widely recognised. His work is extensively documented in academic articles and reports and three of his own books at academics, teachers and parents had a profound impact on teaching and learning practices - Mindstorms: Computers, Children, and Powerful Ideas (1980), The Children's Machine: Rethinking School in the Age of the Computer (1993) and The Connected Family: Bridging the Digital Generation Gap (1996). Select Sources MIT Media Lab (2016) Professor Emeritus Seymour Papert, pioneer of constructionist learning, dies at 88, MIT News, August 1, 2016 MIT Media Lab (2017) 'Thinking about Thinking about Seymour', symposium at the MIT Media Lab. https://www.media.mit.edu/videos/seymour-2017-01-26/ Resnick, M (2017) Lifelong kindergarten: cultivating creativity through projects, passion, peers, and play. Boston: MIT Press. Stager, Gary S. (2016). "Seymour Papert (1928-2016) Father of educational computing". Nature. 537 (7620). London: Springer Nature: 308.

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