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Fiction and computational thinking (Updated) — ICT & Computing in Education
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Think outside the box, by Terry Freedman

Think outside the box, by Terry Freedman

Fiction and computational thinking (Updated)

May 5, 2020

This is an updated version of an article I published in 2015. The article has been added to, and links that have expired have been sorted out. I thought you might enjoy this, as it suggests stories and articles to read that give food for thought as far as computing is concerned.

How might you use fiction as a vehicle for teaching computational thinking? Here are some ideas.

  • Read Asimov's "The Machine That Won the War", summarise it for your students, and then discuss in class.

  • Represent a story or poem as a flowchart. The plot diagram of The Machine That Won the War is a nice example.

  • Read my article F is for Flash Fiction.

  • Read Tom Godwin's "The Cold Equations" summarise it for your students, and ask them to design a program or at least an algorithm to represent what is going on.

  • Look at Asimov's Laws of Robotics.

  • Visit or revisit The dialogue between the astronaut and Hal, the all-powerful computer, in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Enjoy!

You may find my article Shock Tactics: 7 Ideas for Teaching with Technology useful too.

In From the Archives, Discussion topic, Reflections, Unintended consequences, Using and Teaching Computing & ICT Tags fiction, science fiction, computational thinking
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