Computers and coding are more important than ever for students to be able to control their future. danah boyd (lowercase intentional) reminds us that not all young people are digital natives; "Whether in school or in an informal setting, youth need opportunities to develop the skills and knowledge to engage with contemporary technology effectively and meaningfully" (It's Complicated, 2015).
To this end, we must not simply let students practice the science of creating and consuming content. The same way that students need to learn about the water cycles to understand rain, they should also learn about the parts and functions of a computer to understand these amazingly powerful devices! Although I grew up using computers in school for word processing and data analysis, I never understood how they work (down to the bits and binary) until studying computer science and coding as an adult. These avenues for inquiry go beyond learning how to troubleshoot a frozen program or spinning Mac wheel; becoming literate in computer design technology will allow students to harness computing systems for their own learning in the future. As young as third grade, students at The School at Columbia University begin to study computer science in a formalized yet progressive setting.
What does this actually look like? In our class, TSC technology educator Dylan Ryder and I tweaked his existing unit to focus deeply on the fundamentals of computer science. We began at a place where all students can frame some concept of technology - the internet. We checked students concepts of WiFi, and helped them find the routers in their own classrooms. Part of this unit also incorporates troubleshooting and basic computer reset skills, and so we demonstrated how to reset their own WiFi in case of a dropped connection.
Then we zoomed out, conceptually. Inspired by an activity from Hello Ruby! we asked students to imagine what happens inside their computer when they type or press on the trackpad. They drew their own ideas, and we were delighted to see the range in responses! Some students imagined an orderly schematic of wires and green chips, while others imagined a jumbled bunch of wires ("pure chaos", as the student described). This gave us as educators a great chance to understand our students' ideas and misconceptions about computing.
From there, we defined the four main functions of a computer: input, output, processing and storage. Throughout the unit, we incorporated these amazing short videos from code.org that describe the functions using accessible terminology. Bonus points that these videos also feature women and people of color in an otherwise homogenous industry! We asked students to examine devices in hands-on stations to determine if they are computers or "almost" computers. Many students were able to begin identifying computerized or digital devices as computers or not, based on their understandings of the four main functions. Students these "clues" about various devices, such as headphones, a computer mouse, a Lego EV3, mobile phone and digital thermometer. We wanted students to stretch their brains to understand the difference between computerized devices and actual computers. In a world that's increasingly based in IoT, these skills are really helpful!
Coming up, we will provide students with a chance to see the inside guts of some broken devices, included an old G3 Tower, a Walkman and an old iPhone. Our goal is to help students identify the specific components that perform each function. We'll help out by labeling the RAM, ROM, CPU and GPU to indicate storage and processing. I'm looking forward to helping kids figure out the input and output components too (spoiler: a touch screen is both!). When students finish the unit in a few weeks, they'll have made a poster in Google Slides that teaches others about the specific computer functions and shows some examples of each. Not only will they feel more confident in differentiating different digital devices, but they'll be so much better prepared to manipulate and troubleshoot their own computers.
Update 12/21/18: The final products are in, and students did an amazing job of creating their own posters in Google Slides! On display in the hallway, along with these adorably eye-catching decorations by third grade technology integrator Dylan Ryder. See below for examples of the students' great work!
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