Yasmin Kafai
Encyclopedia
Yasmin B. Kafai, Ph.D., is a Professor of Learning Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania
Graduate School of Education
, past president of the International Society of the Learning Sciences
(ISLS), and an executive editor of the Journal of the Learning Sciences
.
Dr. Kafai was born in Germany and has worked and studied in Germany, France, and the United States. In the U.S., Kafai worked with Seymour Papert
at the MIT Media Lab
oratory and was a faculty member of the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies
.
Dr. Kafai is a pioneer in research on electronic gaming, learning, and gender. Utilizing constructionist theory, Kafai examines technology designs and culture, and helped to set the foundation for programmatic initiatives on games and learning. Kafai was an early developer and researcher of Scratch, an educational programming language that allows students to creatively participate as programmers in the development of virtual projects. She is also an active voice on the involvement of girls in gaming and programming and on the impact of virtual gaming on real-life social behavior in youth.
Kafai is an editor of Beyond Barbie and Mortal Kombat: New Perspectives on Gender and Gaming (2008), a collection of essays that builds on the groundbreaking book From Barbie to Mortal Kombat (Cassell and Jenkins, 2000). Beyond Barbie and Mortal Kombat presents new developments in gaming, gender, and learning, and why gender-based stereotypes persist in gaming. Dr. Kafai's 1995 book Minds in Play: Computer Design as a Context for Children's Learning helped to establish the field of gaming and learning. Kafai has also written Under the Microscope: A Decade of Gender Equity Interventions in the Sciences (2004), contributed to Tech-Savvy: Educating Girls in the New Computer Age, and written several journal and book articles.
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
Graduate School of Education
University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education
The University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, commonly known as Penn GSE, is one of the leading educational research schools in the United States...
, past president of the International Society of the Learning Sciences
International Society of the Learning Sciences
The International Society of the Learning Sciences is a professional society dedicated to the interdisciplinary empirical investigation of learning as it exists in real-world settings and how learning may be facilitated both with and without technology. Learning sciences research explores the...
(ISLS), and an executive editor of the Journal of the Learning Sciences
Journal of the Learning Sciences
The Journal of the Learning Sciences is a peer-reviewed academic journal and an official publication of the International Society of the Learning Sciences. It covers research on learning and education and is published by Taylor & Francis publishers. It was started in 1991 as by founding editor...
.
Dr. Kafai was born in Germany and has worked and studied in Germany, France, and the United States. In the U.S., Kafai worked with Seymour Papert
Seymour Papert
Seymour Papert is an MIT mathematician, computer scientist, and educator. He is one of the pioneers of artificial intelligence, as well as an inventor of the Logo programming language....
at the MIT Media Lab
MIT Media Lab
The MIT Media Lab is a laboratory of MIT School of Architecture and Planning. Devoted to research projects at the convergence of design, multimedia and technology, the Media Lab has been widely popularized since the 1990s by business and technology publications such as Wired and Red Herring for a...
oratory and was a faculty member of the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies
UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies
The Graduate School of Education and Information Studies is one of the professional graduate schools at the University of California, Los Angeles...
.
Dr. Kafai is a pioneer in research on electronic gaming, learning, and gender. Utilizing constructionist theory, Kafai examines technology designs and culture, and helped to set the foundation for programmatic initiatives on games and learning. Kafai was an early developer and researcher of Scratch, an educational programming language that allows students to creatively participate as programmers in the development of virtual projects. She is also an active voice on the involvement of girls in gaming and programming and on the impact of virtual gaming on real-life social behavior in youth.
Kafai is an editor of Beyond Barbie and Mortal Kombat: New Perspectives on Gender and Gaming (2008), a collection of essays that builds on the groundbreaking book From Barbie to Mortal Kombat (Cassell and Jenkins, 2000). Beyond Barbie and Mortal Kombat presents new developments in gaming, gender, and learning, and why gender-based stereotypes persist in gaming. Dr. Kafai's 1995 book Minds in Play: Computer Design as a Context for Children's Learning helped to establish the field of gaming and learning. Kafai has also written Under the Microscope: A Decade of Gender Equity Interventions in the Sciences (2004), contributed to Tech-Savvy: Educating Girls in the New Computer Age, and written several journal and book articles.