MediaMente: Idit Harel

Idit Harel

Interview

"MaMaMedia: a children’s media company" (New York, 04-04-1998)

Biography

Born and raised in Israel, Idit Harel studied and worked in Cambridge, Massachusetts for over a decade.
She holds a Ph.D. from the MIT Media Lab, two Masters degrees from Harvard University (Interactive Technologies & Education and Human Development) and a B.A. from Tel Aviv University.

Idit Harel has been introducing new media technologies to children for fifteen years. Since the earliest days of the personal computer, Harel has been at the forefront of educational innovation, creating meaningful ways to combine the power of the computer with the potential of the child.
One of the first graduates of the MIT Media Lab, Harel has played a leading role in major research projects designed to integrate technology with children's learning, including seminal work with elementary schools sponsored by IBM, Apple, Lego, Nintendo and the National Science Foundation.

She founded MaMaMedia in 1995 and is CEO. The company has brought together a team of specialists in the areas of children's media, technology and learning.
Her interests include playful computational learning environments, multimedia design and programming and interactive learning programs for mathematics and science.

Harel has also consulted on numerous projects for companies such as WGBH-TV, Children’s Television Workshop, HarperCollins and Compaq and has taught at MIT and Harvard.
Harel is co-editor with Professor Seymour Papert of the book, "Constructionism", and is the author of "Children Designers", winner of the 1991 "Outstanding Book Award" from the American Education Research Association.