Bob Tinker

Scientists routinely use instrumentation connected to computers to monitor and control experiments. Bob Tinker extended this idea to education. The term microcomputer-based laboratories (MBLs) was adopted to describe educational use of scientific probes and instruments connected to computers in schools. (Tinker, 1984; Tinker & Papert, 1989)  

Bob Tinker (1941 – 2017) was posthumously recognized with the NTLS Educational Leadership Award at the 2025 National Educational Leadership Summit. This award was established to recognize individuals who significantly advanced effective use of technology in teaching and teacher education over the course of their lifetimes. Bob Tinker’s summative paper, A History of Probeware (Tinker, 2000), is being republished as a seminal paper in the NTLS journal, Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education (CITE Journal).

Carolyn Staudt contributed to much of this work at the Concord Consortium, the non-profit educational organization that Bob Tinker founded. She accepted the award at NTLS on his behalf and on behalf of the Concord Consortium.