Description
Digital technologies old and new are not objects that can be packed inside a box. They are a seamless/ indivisible combination of people/ organizations/ policies/ economies/ histories/ cultures/ knowledge/ and material things that are continuously shaped and reshaped. Every one of us innovates-in-use our everyday technologies/ we just do not always know it. Not only are we shaped by the networked information tools in our midst/ but we shape them and thereby shape others. For us to advance individual agency across diverse community knowledge and cultural wealth within the fabric of communities/ we need to nurture our cognitive/ socio-emotional/ information/ and progressive community engagement skills along with/ and sometimes in advance of/ our technical skills which then serve as just-in-time in-fill learning. This is the call placed by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King/ Jr. – to rapidly shift from a ‘thing-oriented’ society to a ‘person-oriented’ society. In support of this shift/ each session of the book begins first with a social chapter with background knowledge probe/ conceptual introductions/ and a lesson plan for the session. A technical chapter follows with technical introductions and hands-on activities/ and a concluding wrap up and comprehension check. The technical of the Orange Unit especially focuses on electronics and physical computer components; the Blue Unit highlights software through a series of introductory programming activities/ with possibilities for alternate pathways for those who bring in some existing programming experience; the Rainbow Unit then brings the hardware and software together into networked systems/ concluding with a final design adventure.

Items related to the subject Computer Science