Computing in the News
Tips and Options for Using Computing News in Class
-
- 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)
Search our 2016-17 Curated News Stories by CSP Framework Tag
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
- New Approach for Faster Ransomware DetectionNC State University NewsEngineering researchers at North Carolina State University (NC State) and Hewlett Packard Enterprise have come up with a new technique that can detect ransomware faster than previous systems. The Field-Programmable Gate Array-Accelerated XGBoost Inference for Data Centers using High-Level-Synthesis (FAXID) approach is a hardware-based implementation of the ransomware-detecting XGBoost algorithm. The researchers […]
- Smart Contact Lens for Glaucoma Could Release Drugs When NeededNew ScientistA prototype wireless contact lens developed by researchers at China's Sun Yat-Sen and Jinan universities could help treat glaucoma by automatically dispensing drugs when pressure inside the eye becomes excessive. The lens's outer layer has a ring of tiny copper plates surrounding the pupil, which detect eye deformation caused by increasing pressure. An antenna […]
- A Solution for One of VR's Biggest Issues: Tracking Your LegsCNNCarnegie Mellon University (CMU) researchers have come up with a potential solution to the problem of tracking legs in virtual reality (VR). The ControllerPose system tracks a user's entire body by attaching cameras with fisheye lenses to two Meta Quest 2 headset controllers; as a VR headset wearer holds the VR system controllers, body images […]
From MIT News
- Artificial intelligence predicts patients’ race from their medical images May 20, 2022Study shows AI can identify self-reported race from medical images that contain no indications of race detectable by human experts.Rachel Gordon | MIT CSAIL
- Charting a safe course through a highly uncertain environment May 19, 2022A new technique can safely guide an autonomous robot without knowledge of its environmental conditions or the size, shape, or location of obstacles it might encounter.Adam Zewe | MIT News Office
- Can artificial intelligence overcome the challenges of the health care system? May 17, 2022MIT and Mass General Brigham researchers and physicians connect in person to bring AI into mainstream health care.Abdul Latif Jameel Clinic for Machine Learning in Health
- Zero-trust architecture may hold the answer to cybersecurity insider threats May 17, 2022MIT Lincoln Laboratory study explores a new approach to securing systems.Nathan Parde | MIT Lincoln Laboratory
From Science Daily
- Using everyday WiFi to help robots see and navigate better indoors May 19, 2022Engineers have developed a low cost, low power technology to help robots accurately map their way indoors, even in poor lighting and without recognizable landmarks or features. The technology uses WiFi signals, instead of light, to help the robot 'see' where it's going.
- Is it topological? A new materials database has the answer May 19, 2022A new materials database reveals more than 90,000 known 'topological' materials with persistent electronic properties.
- Human behavior is key to building a better long-term COVID forecast May 19, 2022From extreme weather to another wave of COVID-19, forecasts give decision-makers valuable time to prepare. When it comes to COVID, though, long-term forecasting is a challenge, because it involves human behavior.