Co-director of MIT's Future of Learning Group David Cavallo says revolutionary insights about human intelligence can be produced through "hard fun" projects that apply technology creatively, methodically, and assiduously.

He explains that early artificial intelligence research did not align well with intelligence modeling, since it followed a simplistic vision; but the computer can now enable researchers to better account for the complexity of intelligence. "What's really been rich in AI, what's really rich in the computer, and what has helped us to understand minds better was trying to build models of minds," Cavallo says.

Rich computing can be applied to education to make learning a more active and dynamic experience for students. Cavallo notes that arts educators tend to be more accepting of active learning projects than technical teachers, since people with an arts background are familiar with mixed media and are eager to embrace new concepts and forms of expression. He cites a project in which Brazilian students were challenged to design an ideal city as a model for the kind of "hard fun" classes his group develops: The project begins with a brainstorming session where each participant works out what specific urban element he is going to model, and then thinks through the various pitfalls associated with that element; the overall goal of the project is to give students, teachers, and administrators new ideas about making learning different.

Cavallo says his team hopes that future learning will involve the use of the computer to support thinking, creativity, and the realization of imagined concepts. "We're not just looking at the computer as an information-delivery device or a communication device: It's a dreaming and making device," he concludes.

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