BAR HARBOR, ME – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) released the following statement today on the passing of Seymour Papert, a mathematician and computer scientist at MIT who played a critical role in the creation of the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI):  

           “Almost twenty years ago, I had a conversation with Seymour that opened my eyes to the importance of empowering students with technology. At the time, as Governor, I had been thinking about how to increase the number of computers in classrooms and told him that, perhaps through some mighty effort, we might be able to increase the ratio of students to computers to three-to-one. ‘No, no,’ he responded, holding up both index fingers. ‘It is only when it is one-to-one that the power occurs.’

            “In that moment, MLTI was born – and, today, tens of thousands of students across Maine are better off because of it. Because of him.

“Seymour was brilliant. He was visionary. And he was a world-class educator who not only recognized the power of technology in the classroom far before others, but who also fought to empower students with it. I am deeply saddened by his passing, but I will be forever grateful – not just for that conversation so many years ago – but for his leadership and many years of friendship.”

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