Facial recognition software, a streaming service’s music-categorising algorithm, gendered and racialised high school dress codes and LBGTQ+ discrimination are some of the social issues that a team of teens at YR Media sought to address, using digital technologies.
In 'Code for What?: Computer Science for Storytelling and Social Justice' (The MIT Press, $29.95, ISBN 9780262047456), Dr Elisabeth Soep, and Dr Cliff Lee challenge current practices in computer science courses. Instead of teaching computing in a technical and decontextualised way, they encourage educators to push the boundaries of traditional education and lean into interactive and impactful methods that can approach the content from a more human perspective.
Could coding become a justice-driven medium for storytelling? Would it empower youth to create digital products for social impact? What would that look like? These are some of the questions the authors aimed to answer alongside...