Natalie Rusk, Mitchel Resnick, Stina Cooke

Abstract

Technology has changed a great deal in the 15 years since we started the first Computer Clubhouse. At that time, no one was carrying around cell phones. Most people had never heard of the Internet. The most popular Web sites today—such as Google, Yahoo, and YouTube—did not yet exist. Although technologies have changed radically, the motivations and needs that led to starting the Computer Clubhouse program have remained the same and continue to drive the program today. So we find it useful to reflect back on the ideas and issues that sparked us to start the first Clubhouse. In this chapter we tell the story of the origins of the first Computer Clubhouse and then discuss the four core principles that have guided the development of the Clubhouse program since its beginning in 1993.