Skip to main content

Unplugged Activities in the Context of AI

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Informatics in Schools. New Ideas in School Informatics (ISSEP 2019)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 11913))

Abstract

Due to its great importance in the media, the start-up world and the political discussion, artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly relevant as a topic for schools. Until now, approaches to making AI tangible for students without actually programming an AI system have been rare. To address this circumstance, a teaching sequence of unplugged activities about AI has been developed and is presented. AI Unplugged provides CS Unplugged activities that present the ideas and concepts of computer science without using computers. The activities shed light on important concepts of AI and make it possible to convey the central ideas of artificial intelligence to the students. In addition, they offer starting points for discussing social issues around AI. This article describes the activities and their theoretical background, outlines a possible course of instruction, and describes practical experiences with AI Unplugged.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    https://experiments.withgoogle.com/.

  2. 2.

    https://machinelearningforkids.co.uk/.

  3. 3.

    e.g. Cozmo (https://www.anki.com/de-de/cozmo) or PopBots [23].

  4. 4.

    https://ddi.cs.fau.de/schule/ai-unplugged/.

References

  1. Bell, T., Rosamond, F., Casey, N.: Computer science unplugged and related projects in math and computer science popularization. In: Bodlaender, H.L., Downey, R., Fomin, F.V., Marx, D. (eds.) The Multivariate Algorithmic Revolution and Beyond. LNCS, vol. 7370, pp. 398–456. Springer, Heidelberg (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30891-8_18

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  2. Bell, T., Tymann, P., Yehudai, A.: The big ideas in computer science for K-12 curricula. Bull. EATCS 1(124) (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Bell, T., Witten, I., Fellows, M.: Computer Science Unplugged: Off-line Activities and Games for All Ages. Citeseer (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Brinda, T., Diethelm, I.: Education in the digital networked world. In: Tatnall, A., Webb, M. (eds.) WCCE 2017. IAICT, vol. 515, pp. 653–657. Springer, Cham (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74310-3_66

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  5. Bundesregierung: Strategie Künstliche Intelligenz der Bundesregierung [German strategy for artificial intelligence] (2018). https://www.bmbf.de/files/Nationale_KI-Strategie.pdf. Accessed 18 June 2019

  6. CSTA: About the CSTA K-12 computer science standards (2017). https://www.csteachers.org/page/standards. Accessed 15 June 2019

  7. Demšar, I., Demšar, J.: CS unplugged: experiences and extensions. In: Brodnik, A., Vahrenhold, J. (eds.) ISSEP 2015. LNCS, vol. 9378, pp. 106–117. Springer, Cham (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25396-1_10

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  8. Ertel, W.: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence. Springer, Cham (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58487-4

    Book  Google Scholar 

  9. Gallenbacher, J.: The adventure of computer science. In: Böckenhauer, H.-J., Komm, D., Unger, W. (eds.) Adventures Between Lower Bounds and Higher Altitudes. LNCS, vol. 11011, pp. 538–548. Springer, Cham (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98355-4_31

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  10. Garcia, D., Harvey, B., Segars, L.: CS principles pilot at University of California, Berkeley. ACM Inroads 3(2), 58–60 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Geldreich, K., Funke, A., Hubwieser, P.: A programming circus for primary schools. In: Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Informatics in Schools: Situation, Evolution, and Perspectives, pp. 49–50 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Holder, C., Khurana, V., Watts, M.: Artificial intelligence: public perception, attitude and trust (2018). https://www.bristows.com/assets/pdf/Artificial%20Intelligence_%20Public%20Perception%20Attitude%20and%20Trust%20(Bristows).pdf. Accessed 06 June 2019

  13. International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE): Bold new program helps teachers and students explore the power of AI (2018). https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=2229. Accessed 15 June 2019

  14. Kahn, K., Megasari, R., Piantari, E., Junaeti, E.: AI programming by children using snap! block programming in a developing country. In: EC-TEL Practitioner Proceedings 2018: 13th European Conference On Technology Enhanced Learning, Leeds, UK, 3–6 September 2018 (2018). http://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2193/paper1.pdf

  15. Kandlhofer, M., Steinbauer, G., Hirschmugl-Gaisch, S., Huber, P.: Artificial intelligence and computer science in education: from kindergarten to university. In: 2016 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), pp. 1–9. IEEE (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Knobelsdorf, M., Schulte, C.: Computer science in context: pathways to computer science. In: Proceedings of the Seventh Baltic Sea Conference on Computing Education Research - Volume 88, Koli Calling 2007, pp. 65–76 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Langley, P.: The changing science of machine learning. Mach. Learn. 82(3), 275–279 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10994-011-5242-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Nishida, T., Kanemune, S., Idosaka, Y., Namiki, M., Bell, T., Kuno, Y.: A CS unplugged design pattern. ACM SIGCSE Bull. 41(1), 231–235 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Puhlmann, H., et al.: Grundsätze und Standards für die Informatik in der Schule [Principles and standards for computer science education in schools]. Bildungsstandards Informatik für die Sekundarstufe I. Beilage zu LOG IN (150/151) (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Seegerer, S., Romeike, R.: Was jeder über Informatik lernen sollte - Eine Analyse von Hochschulkursen für Studierende anderer Fachrichtungen [What everyone should know about computer science - an analysis of university courses for students from other fields]. In: HDI 2018, Potsdam, pp. 13–28 (2018). https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/files/41354/cid12.pdf

  21. Thies, R., Vahrenhold, J.: Reflections on outreach programs in CS classes: learning objectives for “unplugged” activities. In: Proceedings of the 43rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, SIGCSE 2012, pp. 487–492. ACM, New York (2012). https://doi.org/10.1145/2157136.2157281

  22. Touretzky, D., Gardner-McCune, C., Martin, F., Seehorn, D.: Envisioning AI for K-12: what should every child know about AI? In: “Blue sky talk” at the Thirty-Third AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-19) (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Williams, R., Park, H.W., Oh, L., Breazeal, C.: PopBots: designing an artificial intelligence curriculum for early childhood education (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Witten, H., Hornung, M.: Chatbots Teil 1: Einführung in eine Unterrichtsreihe zu Informatik im Kontext (IniK). [Chatbots, part 1: Introduction to a teaching sequence about computer science in context]. LOG IN 28(154/155), 51–60 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Yu, Y., Chen, Y.: Design and development of high school artificial intelligence textbook based on computational thinking. Open Access Libr. J. 5(09), 1 (2018)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Annabel Lindner .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Lindner, A., Seegerer, S., Romeike, R. (2019). Unplugged Activities in the Context of AI. In: Pozdniakov, S., Dagienė, V. (eds) Informatics in Schools. New Ideas in School Informatics. ISSEP 2019. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 11913. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33759-9_10

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33759-9_10

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-33758-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-33759-9

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics