Computing in the News
Tips and Options for Using Computing News in Class
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- Present a current news story about a computing innovation (including a video if there is one), then ask the students what they think about it, what computer science concepts are involved, and what the positive and negative implications are.
- Once you’ve modeled the process several times, you can ask students to bring stories to the group.
- Can be used as a five-minute bellringer every day, or save news for Fridays and give it more time.
- If the discussion is going well, let it continue!
- It can be easy — maybe a little too easy — to highlight the positive elements of a new innovation (especially when news stories are based on press releases!). So it’s important for students to see the negative (often unintended) implications as well — and to put some thought into how potential negative consequences could be prevented or mitigated.
Why Use News?
Highlights from the news make a great attention-grabber at the beginning of class, and provide handy concrete examples for thinking about the global impacts of computing. (In fact, there’s a move to use news in all undergrad CS classes at UC Berkeley!)
Three Ways to Find Computing News
News Stories Curated for CSP by TGI (this page)
2016-17 news highlights that demonstrate computing impacts. Each one lists relevant CSP learning objectives and essential knowledge, along with suggested discussion questions. Scroll article snippets or search by CSP framework tag.
Ongoing TGI “Computing in The News” Forum
Uncurated news spotted by our site users, and comments on our curated news articles. Peruse, or join in and share a story! (Forum RSS feed)
Current Uncurated News from Other Sources
Some of our favorite live news feeds: ACM Tech News, MIT News, Science Daily.
News Stories Curated for CSP by TGI
2016-17 Highlights
(Team TGI: Anna Clark, Tyler Daniell, Michael Morguarge, Nnamdi Onwumere, and Jonathan Corley at University of West Georgia and Julia Bernd at ICSI)
Ongoing TGI “Computing in The News” Forum
Uncurated news spotted by our site users, community contributions, and comments on our curated news articles. Peruse or join in and share a story!
Current Uncurated News from Other Sources
Some of our favorite sources for computing news!
From ACM Tech News
- Parkland School Turns to Experimental Surveillance Software That Can Flag Students as ThreatsThe Washington PostFlorida's Broward County Public School system will deploy an experimental artificial intelligence network to monitor students and flag potential threats. The Avigilon installation from Motorola Solutions combines 145 surveillance cameras and software so security officials can track students based on their appearance, and it can automatically alert a school-monitoring officer when it senses […]
- Software Pirates Use Apple Tech to Put Hacked Apps on iPhonesReutersSoftware pirates have hijacked technology from Apple to distribute hacked versions of popular apps on iPhones. Security researchers have long warned about the misuse of enterprise developer certificates, which act as digital keys that tell an iPhone a piece of software downloaded from the Internet can be trusted and opened. They are the centerpiece of […]
- Technology Could Make Hard Border Disappear, but at a CostThe Economist“Hard” borders could potentially become invisible within a few years amid technological advancements, but practical applications could carry high costs and intrusive electronic surveillance. Nevertheless, a number of borders around the world are being modernized; for example, Switzerland hopes to digitize its border procedures with the European Union fully by 2026, using its DaziT […]
From Science Daily
- How do we conserve and restore computer-based art in a changing technological environment? February 16, 2019Just as conservators have developed methods to protect traditional artworks, computer scientists have now created means to safeguard computer- or time-based art by following the same preservation principles.
- Graphene-based wearables for health monitoring, food inspection and night vision February 16, 2019Scientists have developed dozens of new graphene-based prototypes. These technologies aim to turn mobile phones into life saving devices.
- Immersive virtual reality therapy shows lasting effect in treatment of phobias in children with autism February 15, 2019New research shows that an immersive virtual reality environment treats 45 percent of children with autism, freeing them from their fears and phobias -- and that the treatment lasts.