āA Palette of Virtuesā
An international symposium held at ĀŅĀ׊”æÉ°® in late May focused on computer science education, but with a mission: reframing it as an ambitious, human-centered endeavor that builds character.
Titled āA Palette of Virtues: A Humanistic Education Through Computer Science,ā the conferenceāhosted by ĀŅĀ׊”æÉ°®'s Developmental Technologies Research Group on May 28-30āattracted 28 educators, researchers and innovators from non-profit organizations, universities, and governmental institutions in nine countries who have collaborated with theĀ Lynch School of Education and Human Development-based group over the past three years.
The research teamāknown as DevTech and founded and directed by MarinaĀ Umaschi Bers, the Augustus Long Professor of Education at the Lynch Schoolāadvances playful, developmentally appropriate technologies and pedagogical approaches that foster young children's creative learning about computational thinking, computer programming, robotics, crafting literacies and engineering skillsāand, critically, about making the world a better place.
The āpalette of virtuesāāa metaphor coined by Bers in her 2022 book, Beyond Coding: How Children Learn Human Values through Programing ā stresses that coding and creating projects can go well beyond computational thinking to promote the development of human values, character strengths and personal growth.
Marina Umaschi Bers explains the 'palette of virtunes.'
āBy equipping educators to teach computational thinking, coding, and robotics while intentionally emphasizing virtues and character development alongside the technical skills, itās possible for diverse cultural and religious groups to find points of connection, work together toward a common goal, and find shared meaning and purpose,ā said Bers, who holds a secondary appointment in ĀŅĀ׊”æÉ°®ās Computer Science Department. āThe goal is to educate young children who can grow as autonomous individuals, who are capable of thinking systematically and independently, can problem solve creatively, and who strive to achieve the social good by collaborating with each other.ā
The philosophy closely aligns with ĀŅĀ׊”æÉ°®ās commitment to the Jesuit-based tradition of formative education, a holistic approach to instruction that nurtures and integrates studentsā intellectual, spiritual, ethical and social development.
Recognized nationally and internationally as a pioneering interdisciplinary research lab, DevTech was launched by Bers in 2001 at the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development at Tufts University; in 2022, Bers and the team moved to the Lynch School.
āThe symposiumās goal is to help you find and create your āpalette of virtuesā that represent the human values that can be nurtured and that represent your own learning environment,ā said Bers at the welcome reception at the DevTech Workshop in Carney Hall. āThe palette will then guide what and how you teach in the classroom and the practices you develop.āĀ Ā
The āpalette of virtuesāāa metaphor coined by Bers in her 2022 book Beyond Coding: How Children Learn Human Values through Programingāstresses that coding and creating projects can go well beyond computational thinking to promote the development of human values, character strengths and personal growth.
In addition to a tour of the ĀŅĀ׊”æÉ°® campus, and a dinner at the Hatchery Makerspace at 245 Beacon Street, attendees presented their respective uses, adaptations and translations of the Coding as Another Language (CAL) curriculum, and ScratchJr, a programming language for five-to-seven-year-old children developed by Bers and DevTech in 2014.Ā The groupārepresenting six continentsāalso explored DevTechās newest ScratchJr prototypes by building a robot and designing physical blocks to tell stories about CAL āplaygroundsā around the world.Ā
The multinational guests were universally laudatory of the three-day symposium as it came to a close.
āI was inspired by the collective work,ā said Tim Dixon, a computer science consultant at the Maryland Center for Computer Education. āIt will continue to supply motivation for me when my daily work starts to get me down.ā
Stamatios Papadakis, an assistant professor in Educational Technology at the University of Crete in Greece, underscored that the conference fed his enthusiasm.
āThe people here are passionate about their work,ā he said.Ā āI have much gratitude to be a part of this community.āĀ
Bers noted that the common computer language that the attendees share ābroke down the dividesā that often exist when an international group assembles.
āWe come from different parts of the world, but we face many of the same challenges and are inspired by a shared goal,ā said Bers in closing.Ā āThere was a lot of energy here.Ā Itās like the wind; you canāt see it, but you see the trees moving.Ā We built a coding playground and brought the head and heart together in our effort to improve the world.āĀ
The symposium was funded by a grant from the Siegel Family Endowment, a foundation focused on understanding and shaping the impact of technology on society, and founded in 2011 by David M. Siegel, a co-founder and co-chair of financial sciences company Two Sigma.Ā