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Technologies based on AI/ML are playing an increasingly prominent role in teenagers’ everyday lives. Mirroring this trend is a concomitant interest in teaching young people about intelligent technologies. Whereas previous research in the field of Child–Computer Interaction has proposed curriculum and learning activities that describe what teenagers need to learn about AI/ML, there is still a shortage of studies which specifically address teenager-centered perspectives in the teaching of AI/ML. This paper presents a study of teenagers’ everyday understanding of AI/ML technologies. Using a thematic analysis of the teenagers’ own explanations during a series of workshops, we present a conceptual map of the teenagers’ understandings of these technologies. We go on to propose five general recommendations for the teaching of AI/ML to teenagers through the lens of Computational Empowerment. Taken together, these recommendations serve as a teenage-centered starting point for teaching young people about intelligent technologies, an approach that can be implemented in future research interventions with similar objectives.

Increasingly, IoT kits are used in pedagogical contexts to support learning experiences and teach students about IoT. However, few of them focus on both the technical aspects and the societal implications of IoT, such as cybersecurity and privacy. In this paper, we describe the Orbit IoT Kit, a micro:bit-based toolkit that supports teachers in IoT activities. The kit combines the microcontroller with relays and a web application, enabling students to connect everyday objects to the Internet and visualize the devices' data flow. Based on an intervention in a secondary school with 3 teachers and 20 students of ages 12-13, our results indicate that the design and features of the kit — internet communication and data visualization — support teachers to engage students in learning about a holistic perspective of IoT. We reflect on our research propositions, discuss design strategies, and present three design recommendations for IoT toolkits: Connectivity, Visualization, and Openness.

The paper addresses the current lack of emerging technology education in both research and practice and the urgent need for preparing future generations for a digital future. Based on a two-year participatory design process with Danish researchers and pioneer teachers, the article presents outcomes on the collaborative development of interdisciplinary teaching and learning practices around machine learning and augmented reality for K-12 education, and the professional development that the process spurred within the teachers’ community. The findings indicate that the participatory process became a catalyst for the development of meaningful teaching activities, a community of practice, and the shaping of a common future educational agenda. Furthermore, the results showed how the approach supported teachers’ transformation from active co-designers into change agents for future emerging technology education. Based on an exemplary case, the article demonstrates how participatory design with teachers can support the development of new sustainable practices and communities for emerging technology in education.

There is a global consensus that computational thinking (CT) should be integrated into education, and empowerment is often used as an argument for why future generations need to be able to think computationally. In this paper we report on a systematic literature survey that categorises various strands of empowerment as they unfold in CT education research. We apply an existing categorisation tool that defines the use of empowerment in relation to five interpretations:management, critical, democratic, functional andeducational empowerment. Our analysis identifies several important limitations in the current literature. First, ‘empowerment’ is frequently used, but seldom defined, in current CT education literature. Second, the understanding of empowerment varies substantially depending on geographic region, which means that empowerment as an end-goal in CT education may differ significantly from region to region. Our study also found that critical and managemental empowerment are under-represented in the international CT education literature, but are more prevalent in research carried out in the Nordic countries. We conclude this paper by suggesting a research agenda to secure a more palpable research literature related to empowerment and to CT in education, to support future research, and to support ongoing policy-making.

Providing opportunities for students to collaborate while developing their computational thinking (CT) is a challenge, particularly for remote collaboration. To address this issue, an interdisciplinary team derived a set of design rationales (integration of learning activities, scaffolding progression, cross-device interaction and supporting collaboration in all activities) and developed CoTinker: a collaborative, cross-device tool designed to foster equity in the form of equal participation amongst students. Through a pilot study, we investigated high-school students (n=15), working with CT activities supported by CoTinker, in the form of a computer model of a biological phenomenon. We found that CoTinker was able to support students’ remote collaborative work and participation equity. Furthermore, students were able to take advantage of cross-device interaction using their laptop and mobile phones in concert. We conclude that the design rationales and CoTinker design can serve as useful starting points for enabling equitable collaboration amongst students working with CT.

Regeringens digitaliseringsstrategi på uddannelsesområdet matcher ikke tidligere ambitioner om europæisk førertrøje i digitale kompetencer. En ny EU-rapport viser, at Danmark er blevet kørt agterud, skriver Jakob Harder, Ole Sejer Iversen og Michael E. Caspersen.

This book introduces Participatory Design to researchers and students in Human–Computer Interaction (HCI). Grounded in four strong commitments, the book discusses why and how Participatory Design is important today. The book aims to provide readers with a practical resource, introducing them to the central practices of Participatory Design research as well as to key references. This is done from the perspective of Scandinavian Participatory Design. The book is meant for students, researchers, and practitioners who are interested in Participatory Design for research studies, assignments in HCI classes, or as part of an industry project. It is structured around 11 questions arranged in 3 main parts that provide the knowledge needed to get started with practicing Participatory Design. Each chapter responds to a question about defining, conducting, or the results of carrying out Participatory Design. The authors share their extensive experience of Participatory Design processes and thinking by combining historical accounts, cases, how-to process descriptions, and reading lists to guide further readings so as to grasp the many nuances of Participatory Design as it is practiced across sectors, countries, and industries.

Debatindlæg i Politiken den 19. august 2021 af Jakob Harder, dekan for det Lærerfaglige Fakultet ved Københavns Professionshøjskole, Ole Sejer Iversen, professor ved Aarhus Universitet og Claus Rosenkrands Olsen, uddannelseschef i Dansk Erhverv