Yasmin B Kafai

Digital Library

ACM Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award

USA - 2025

citation

For long-lasting and collective efforts in creative computing, including Scratch and eTextiles, and nurturing their user communities to engage young people in creative learning experiences for discovery and expression

Yasmin B. Kafai, the Lori and Michael Milken Presidential Distinguished Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and Mitchel J. Resnick, the LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research at MIT, are receiving the ACM Karl V. Karlstrom Award for long-lasting and collective efforts in creative computing, including Scratch and eTextiles, and nurturing their user communities to engage young people in creative learning experiences for discovery and expression. More than 150 million young people around the world have created more than 1 billion projects with the Scratch programming platform, which has been translated into 80 languages

Kafai and Resnick are visionary leaders in constructionist education. Together, they have continued Papert's legacy by designing learning environments and user communities that inspire teachers and learners alike. Their scientific work on Scratch and eTextiles has resulted in more than 500 publications and over 60,000 citations. Kafai and Resnick have demonstrated that providing children with access to digital tools is insufficient. Rather, educational tools must be designed to enable children to bring their imagination and creativity to life, and to share those creations within a community where ideas can be discussed, remixed, and extended.

2025 ACM Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award

 

Yasmin B. Kafai, Professor of Learning Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, and Mitchel J. Resnick, Professor of Learning Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, receive the Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award for long-lasting and collective contributions to creative computing, including Scratch and electronic textiles, developing new ways for young people to create and collaborate within learning communities. 

Scratch has become the world’s largest coding community for young people, with more than 150 million registered users who have created over 1 billion projects. Electronic textiles have been used to teach circuitry and coding in new ways, helping to broaden participation and ideas about computing.

Kafai and Resnick have demonstrated that providing young people with access to digital tools is not enough. Their research has highlighted how project-based, interest-driven, collaborative approaches to computing education enable young people to bring their imagination to life, learn from one another by sharing and remixing creations, and make deeper connections to powerful ideas.