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Hal Abelson
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===Computer science education=== Abelson has a longstanding interest in using computation as a conceptual framework in teaching. He directed the first implementation of [[Logo (programming language)|Logo]] for the [[Apple II]], which made the language widely available on personal computers starting in 1981; and published a widely selling book on Logo in 1982. His book ''[[Turtle Geometry]],'' written with [[Andrea diSessa]] in 1981, presented a computational approach to geometry which has been cited as "the first step in a revolutionary change in the entire teaching/learning process." In March 2015, a copy of Abelson's 1969 implementation of [[Turtle graphics]] was sold at [[The Algorithm Auction]], the world’s first auction of computer [[algorithm]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.artsy.net/artwork/hal-abelson-turtle-geometry |title=Hal Abelson – Turtle Geometry |date=1969 |website=Artsy |access-date=7 September 2019}}</ref> Together with [[Gerald Jay Sussman]], Abelson developed MIT's introductory computer science subject, ''[[Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs]],'' a subject organized around the notion that a computer language is primarily a formal medium for expressing ideas about methodology, rather than just a way to get a computer to perform operations. This work, through the textbook of the same name, videotapes of their lectures, and the availability on personal computers of the [[Scheme (programming language)|Scheme]] dialect of [[Lisp (programming language)|Lisp]] (used in teaching the course), has had a worldwide impact on university computer science education.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~bh/sicp.html |title=Why Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs matters |last=Harvey |first=Brian |work=Cs.berkeley.edu |date=2011 |access-date=2013-10-06}}</ref><ref name=AwardACM2011/> He is a visiting faculty member at Google, where he was part of the ''[[App Inventor for Android]]'' team, an educational program aiming to make it easy for people with no programming background to write mobile phone applications and "explore whether this could change the nature of introductory computing".<ref>{{cite web |last=Abelson |first=Hal |title=App Inventor for Android |work=Official Google Research Blog |date=July 31, 2009 |url=http://googleresearch.blogspot.com/2009/07/app-inventor-for-android.html |access-date=August 7, 2009}}</ref> He is coauthor of the book ''App Inventor'' with David Wolber, [[Ellen Spertus]], and Liz Looney, published by O'Reilly Media in 2011.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781449397487|url-access=registration|title=App Inventor|last1=Wolber|first1=David|last2=Abelson|first2=Hal|last3=Spertus|first3=Ellen|last4=Looney|first4=Liz|date=2011-05-03|publisher=O'Reilly Media |isbn=9781449308650 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/app-inventor-2/9781491907214/ |title=App Inventor 2, 2nd Edition |work=O’Reilly: Safari |access-date=2018-10-25 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="AppInvent">{{cite web |title=App Inventor 2: Create your own Android Apps |url=http://www.appinventor.org/book2 |website=AppInventor.org |access-date=29 June 2019}}</ref> After Google released App Inventor as open source software in late 2009 and provided seed funding to the [[MIT Media Lab]] in 2011, Abelson became codirector of the MIT Center for Mobile Learning to continue development of App Inventor.<ref>{{cite news |title=MIT Launches New Center for Mobile Learning |url=http://web.mit.edu/press/2011/mit-launches-new-center-for-mobile-learning.html |publisher=MIT News Office |date=16 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110825002738/http://web.mit.edu/press/2011/mit-launches-new-center-for-mobile-learning.html |archive-date=25 August 2011}}</ref>
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