Mitchel Resnick (born June 12, 1956) is an American computer scientist. He is the

LEGO Lego (, ; ; stylised as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. Lego consists of variously coloured interlocking plastic bricks made of acrylonitri ...

Papert Professor of Learning Research at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

(MIT) Media Lab, and is the founder of

Scratch Scratch or scratching may refer to: Science and technology * Scratch (programming language), an educational programming language developed by the MIT Media Lab * Scratch space, space on the hard disk drive that is dedicated for only temporary ...

. , Resnick serves as head of the Media Arts and Sciences academic program, which grants

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

s and Ph.D.s at the MIT Media Lab. Resnick's research group has developed a variety of educational tools that engage people in new types of design activities and learning experiences, including the ''Programmable Bricks'' that were the basis for the award-winning

Lego Mindstorms Lego Mindstorms (sometimes stylized as ''LEGO MINDSTORMS'') is a discontinued line of educational kits for building programmable robots based on Lego bricks. It was introduced on 1 September 1998 and discontinued on 31 December 2022. Mindstor ...

and

StarLogo StarLogo is an agent-based simulation language developed by Mitchel Resnick, Eric Klopfer, and others at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab and Scheller Teacher Education Program in Massachusetts. It is an extension of ...

software. He cofounded the Computer Clubhouse, an award-winning network of learning centers for youth from under-served communities. Resnick is also a cofounder and a co-principal investigator of the

Center for Civic Media The MIT Center for Civic Media (formerly the Center for Future Civic Media) was a research and practical center that developed and implemented tools that supported political action and "the information needs of iviccommunities". Its mission read i ...

at MIT. Resnick is also involved in the next generation of Programmable Bricks, and the One Laptop per Child project which designed the

OLPC XO The OLPC XO (formerly known as $100 Laptop, Children's Machine, 2B1) is a low cost laptop computer intended to be distributed to children in developing countries around the world, to provide them with Access to Knowledge movement, access to know ...

($100 laptop).

Education

Resnick, a graduate of

Haverford High School Haverford Senior High School is the public high school of Haverford Township, Pennsylvania, Haverford Township, Pennsylvania, United States, operated by the School District of Haverford Township. It is at 200 Mill Road in Havertown, Pennsylvania ...

, earned a B.A. in physics at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

(1978), and

M.S. A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medicine ...

and Ph.D. degrees in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

at MIT (1988, 1992).

Career

He worked for five years as a science–technology journalist for

Business Week ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...

magazine, and he has consulted widely on the uses of computers in education. Resnick was awarded a

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

Young Investigator Award in 1993. He has collaborated extensively with researchers such as Natalie Rusk,

Brian Silverman Brian Silverman is a Canadian computer scientist, the creator of many programming environments for children,Yasmin Kafai Yasmin B. Kafai is a German American academic who is a Professor of Learning Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, with a secondary appointment in Computer and Information Sciences at the University of Pennsyl ...

Awards

Resnick is a winner of the 2011 Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education. He has been listed as one of the 100 most creative people in Business 2011 by Fast Company.

Published books

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References

External links