{"id":1011,"date":"2025-09-22T23:23:27","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T22:23:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/rumpus\/?p=1011"},"modified":"2025-10-05T21:42:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T20:42:23","slug":"at-mit-media-lab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/rumpus\/index.php\/2025\/09\/22\/at-mit-media-lab\/","title":{"rendered":"At MIT media lab"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: right;\">By Alexandra Okada<\/p>\n<p>It was a real pleasure to meet Ann Berger Valente, Educational Research Manager at the MIT Media Lab in the Lifelong Kindergarten group.<\/p>\n<p>I was a Master\u2019s student at PUC-SP and a researcher at the Paulo Freire Centre, working with Emancipatory Pedagogy, while also teaching computational thinking with Logo, developed by Seymour Papert at MIT, my\u00a0 mentors both\u00a0 Jos\u00e9 Armando and Ann Valente worked with Papert and Freire.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"290\" data-end=\"531\">Freire at PUC-SP, Papert at MIT, and Gardner and Perkins at Harvard were great inspirations, shaping my understanding of emancipatory education and its power to equip my generation with critical pedagogies and technology-enhanced learning.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"533\" data-end=\"1009\">At MIT, I had the joy of presenting the METEOR project alongside student-created technologies\u2014such as a solar cap designed to charge cell phones in high schools.\u00a0 We also showcased a project on the human body, inspired by the OU\u2013BBC series <em data-start=\"776\" data-end=\"792\">The Human Body<\/em>. This initiative was developed by undergraduate students in Medicine and Computer Science, led by my colleague and former advisee, Prof. Alexandre Marino Costa, at UFSC in partnership with the Brazilian Government.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"533\" data-end=\"1009\">These projects exemplify open schooling, which brings together school students and researchers to tackle real-life problems through technology, while developing transversal competencies in partnership. The solar cap, for instance, enabled schoolchildren to act as eco-entrepreneurs, while the use of AR in schools fostered digital health advocates, raising awareness about the human body and wellbeing.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-982\" src=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/rumpus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-03-at-20.12.35.png\" alt=\"\" \/>Image 1: Dr. Okada and Dr. Valente at the MIT Media Lab \u2013 Lifelong Kindergarten<\/p>\n<p>Ann plays a central role in leading and designing research and evaluation for the <a href=\"https:\/\/aprendizagemcriativa.org\/en\" onclick=\"javascript:urchinTracker ('\/outbound\/article\/aprendizagemcriativa.org');\">Brazilian Creative Learning Network (BCLN)<\/a> \u2014 a powerful initiative that is transforming education in Brazil by promoting more creative, relevant, and hands-on learning in both schools and community spaces.<\/p>\n<p>Her academic path is as inspiring as her practice:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#x1f393; B.A. in Child Development, Tufts University<\/li>\n<li>&#x1f393; M.Ed., Harvard Graduate School of Education<\/li>\n<li>&#x1f393; Ph.D. in Medical Sciences, Universidade Estadual de Campinas<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>How Ann defines \u201ccreative learning\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>From her work and reflections, Ann frames creative learning as:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Playful, open-ended, and inclusive \u2192 learning that goes beyond rigid, standardized tasks and creates spaces for experimenting, exploring, and imagining.<\/li>\n<li>Learners as active agents \u2192 children and young people are not passive recipients of knowledge but creators who design, solve problems, and collaborate.<\/li>\n<li>Authentic, meaningful contexts \u2192 connecting learning with what matters in local and cultural settings, from school to festivals and community events.<\/li>\n<li>Supporting educators \u2192 enabling teachers with tools, frameworks, and professional development so they can scaffold creative learning in ways that are feasible and adaptable.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Ann sees creative learning as transformative: nurturing creativity, agency, collaboration, and relevance, where learners and educators alike thrive.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Her key projects with links<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Ann\u2019s leadership has contributed to several initiatives, most notably:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/aprendizagemcriativa.org\/en\" onclick=\"javascript:urchinTracker ('\/outbound\/article\/aprendizagemcriativa.org');\">Brazilian Creative Learning Network (BCLN)<\/a> \u2192 a movement bringing creative, hands-on practices to schools and communities across Brazil.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.media.mit.edu\/projects\/creative-learning-challenge-brazil\/overview\/\" onclick=\"javascript:urchinTracker ('\/outbound\/article\/www.media.mit.edu');\">Creative Learning Fellowship \/ Challenge Brazil<\/a> \u2192 supporting educators to design and implement creative practices, building professional capacity.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.media.mit.edu\/projects\/festivals-of-invention-and-creativity-fic-toolkits\/overview\/\" onclick=\"javascript:urchinTracker ('\/outbound\/article\/www.media.mit.edu');\">Festivals of Invention and Creativity (FICs)<\/a> \u2192 community events where children, families, educators, and policymakers explore invention and creativity together, using both low-tech and high-tech materials.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jwel.mit.edu\/ideas\/articles\/festivals-of-invention-and-creativity\" onclick=\"javascript:urchinTracker ('\/outbound\/article\/www.jwel.mit.edu');\">FIC Toolkit with J-WEL (MIT Jameel World Education Lab)<\/a> \u2192 developing global resources so that communities worldwide \u2014 in Chile, Mexico, South Africa, and beyond \u2014 can adapt and host their own creative festivals.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Meeting Ann reminded me of the global momentum for creative, inclusive, and participatory education. Her vision resonates strongly with Rumpus\u2019 commitment to frameworks like CARE\u2013KNOW\u2013DO, where learners <em data-start=\"385\" data-end=\"391\">care<\/em> about meaningful challenges, <em data-start=\"421\" data-end=\"427\">know<\/em> through inquiry and collaboration, and <em data-start=\"467\" data-end=\"471\">do<\/em> by taking creative and transformative actions in their communities with enjoyment.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>References<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Valente, A. B. (2020). The \u201cCreative Learning Challenge Brazil\u201d from the Perspective of Constructionism.\u00a0<i>Proceedings of Constructionism<\/i>, 536-545.<\/p>\n<p>Valente, A. B., &amp; Burd, L. Brazilian Creative Learning Network.\u00a0<i>PROCEEDINGS OF CONSTRUCTIONISM\/FABLEARN 2023<\/i>, 153.<\/p>\n<p>Valente, A. B., &amp; Burd, L. (2019). Creative Learning Challenge Brazil: A Constructionism approach to educational leadership development.\u00a0<i>Tecnologias, Sociedade e conhecimento<\/i>,\u00a0<i>6<\/i>(2), 9-29.<\/p>\n<p>Valente, A. B. (2003). Evaluation of executive function in AD\/HD children using neuropsychological instrumensts and Logo computer programming activities.\u00a0<i>J. bras. psiquiatr<\/i>, 13-23.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Alexandra Okada It was a real pleasure to meet Ann Berger Valente, Educational Research Manager at the MIT Media Lab in the Lifelong Kindergarten group. I was a Master\u2019s student at PUC-SP and a researcher at the Paulo Freire Centre, working with Emancipatory Pedagogy, while also teaching computational thinking with Logo, developed by Seymour &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/rumpus\/index.php\/2025\/09\/22\/at-mit-media-lab\/\" class=\"more-link\" >Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;At MIT media lab&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,8,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fun","category-meetings","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/rumpus\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/rumpus\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/rumpus\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/rumpus\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/rumpus\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1011"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/rumpus\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1040,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/rumpus\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1011\/revisions\/1040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/rumpus\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/rumpus\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/rumpus\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}