This paper describes and comments on a seven year old's experiences with turtle graphics in order to explore some important issues with regard to using computers in education and to probe into the question of what programming ideas and projects will engage young children. The case study which is described took place at the Artificial Intelligence…

Ideas about computers in education are usually limited to transactions of a conversational form between students and machines. Computers, however, can do many other things and it is only inertia and prejudice, not lack of ideas, which stand in the way of broadening the range of computer applications in schools. Several examples, over half of which…