Mindstorms or a storm in a teacup? A review of research with Logo

The computer programming language Logo, was developed by Papert with the worthy ideal that it would allow children to engage in learning with computers in an active and meaningful way. The most widely used aspect of Logo for elementary school children, is turtle graphics. Papert claimed that the potential of Logo as a learning environment challenges traditional views of learning and education and offers an illustration of how the turtle can be used as an object to think with. Research with children engaged turtle projects and tasks have abounded for more than a decade and have generated a considerable amount of discussion and controversy. This article reviews research with Logo from the early descriptive studies, the potential of Logo to act as a mathematical environment, to those that focused on the cognitive and social outcomes of using Logo with children. It highlights the conflicting nature of the results but suggests that the use of Logo may afford opportunities for children to explore mathematical ideas in a meaningful context and in doing so generate a more active exploration and understanding of concepts and processes inherent to the discipline.