Computer Friends Book

Why do we not have enough qualifiedyoung professionals in the area of computer science? One of the problem is the unused potencial of computer science classes in schools. But somehow the universiality of the computer is lackluster. Computer are everyday present but rarely recognized but as singular artefactstake for granted.

The Computer Friends Book is one approach to invoke this feeling of universality within children attending the primary school. The actual world the kids are used to is used as a starting point and transferred to the computer. They describe the good and lovely aspects of their classmates very similar to peotry albums. With this framework the albums are created at the computer and for the computer. In German there is a metaphor/pun possible that a 'mouse' is 'running' [English 'working'] at the screen.  The friend book is created by the children themselves. They take fotos, collect information and pick topics for their book, structure pages and design them to their taste. A number of preleminary sessions teach the basic methods and knowledge.

With this approach the children are reflecting the topic of computer in a very intensive fashion as they created the entry for their friend instead of themselves. They relate to the technology, making it more human in a way. This way they improve their understanding on their terms. This method has yielded great success.

Material for download (in German)

Kursbeschreibung:
mit Erläuterungen zum grundsätzlichen Ablauf des Kurses sowie zu jeder einzelnen Lektion, 
inkl. Lernzielen und technischen Hinweisen

PDF

Arbeitsblätter:

alles zusammen als ZIP-Archiv (5,9MB)