“How does the CSJ charism of unifying love intersect with algorithms and technology?”

AP Computer Science Principles isn’t just a coding class. I think a lot of people expect it to be that, or a watered-down version of CS A (java object oriented programming). We do a lot of programming, but the focus of the class is broader than just writing code. 

One of the five units of the course is “Impact of Computing” (IoC). Last year, because of time pressure, I ended up assigning a lot of this as independent study, which we would touch base on periodically. This year, I am going to continue to intersperse the coding/data/algorithms content with IoC stuff. It allows flexibility to talk about things as they pop up in the news, or to apply the concepts to coding/data/algorithms and make it a bit more personal. 

Today was my “overarching theme of the course” day. I touched on their summer reading (Algorithms are everywhere!), discussed some old news and personal experiences (I was at Michigan when Gratz v Bollinger and Grutter v Bollinger came down and changed their admission policies), and asked them to consider how technology affects our lives. 

First, I had several students hold signs representing the following tech:

• GPS
• Alexa
• Artificial Intelligence
• Video Games
• Social Media
• Fitness tracking apps/devices
• CCTV
• Self-driving cars

The remaining students got one move each; they could tell a sign-holder to move one space to the left or right. To stage left was “least beneficial;” stage right was “most beneficial.” We went around the room, and then discussed whether people agreed or disagreed with the results.

Then, the sign-holders picked someone else to hold the sign. Now, they were to rank the same tech from least harmful to most.

As most of you know, I’m a neophyte teacher. I have exactly one semester at the high school level. As such, I’m still learning a ton from my students. This was enlightening for me. I’d have GPS-related things much more harmful and video games as least harmful. I didn’t realize how little understanding of the omnipresence of tech, algorithms, and internet they had. I learned how much space they have to grow in that area, and consequently I will focus on that each time we have an IoC day.

After that, I had them reflect on whether they would prefer to be prescreened for an interview by a human or the software mentioned in the summer reading. Again, a big surprise for me. I expected everyone to say human, but about half said the software, because they felt it would be more impartial. Note to self: remind them who writes the algorithms that create that software.

I contrasted that with a quick rundown of the University of Michigan race-conscious court cases, and asked whether they’d prefer to be evaluated by the points system (Gratz, undergrad), or the more nebulous system (Grutter, Law school). Again, I was surprised. They wanted the more qualitative system. I would prefer the points system, because it’s more transparent, and thus could be critiqued and tweaked. They felt that people would be more likely to game the points system. I’m curious as to why their opinions on interview screening versus college admissions differ.

Finally, as something for them to mull over (hopefully), I asked them how the CSJ charism intersects with technology and algorithms. Many of them made the basic connection: don’t be a jerk on the internet. Some started to go farther: understand that people may use tech for direct and deliberate spread of CSJ ideas through electronic communities. Some pointed out that the CSJ mission sometimes goes against our love affair with tech, and that we should remember to get off of our devices from time to time. A handful delved deeply into the question and started to think about how technology could be used to unite physical communities and effect a more peaceful and just society.

I plan on closing out the year by asking this same question, and showing them their answers from today.

And I’ll leave you with a reflection from one of my students:

“Since the 17th century the CSJ sisters respond to the needs of that time, we are still able to follow in the CSJ sister’s footsteps, but now have an advantage with the help of technology. As a community, we are now able to spread awareness of injustices that are happening across the world and would not be able to bring action through these injustices without social media platforms that are provided by technology.”