Seeing Computer Science Everywhere

I’m the type of person who really does see computers and computer science everywhere. I can turn any situation or location into a discussion or eye-opening opportunity for students. Some are more obvious than others, especially for those of us already teaching computer science.
For example, a couple weeks ago my husband and I stumbled upon a restaurant in the mall that had a different gimmick. Each table had an iPad. At first we thought it was meant for entertainment. But its purpose was to allow the customers to order and customize their food. After the novelty of customizing the food yourself and seeing the cost of each added item (such as adding cheese or tomatoes to your salad changes the price) wore off. We found we missed the human interaction of the server. Would we really want to frequent a restaurant where the people only drop off the food?
The iPad and the software used brought the ordering system that servers use to the customer. It was made more user friendly by allowing customers to drag the ingredients they wanted onto their salad/sandwich/pizza and see it stacked in a visual graphic. I couldn’t help but want to take my CS students on a mini-field trip to the place so they could “deconstruct” the specifications needed for the software used.
This, of course, is one overtly obvious place that computer science is applied. Some variation of the application is used in all restaurants to allow their servers to put orders to the kitchen. Cash registers in retail stores are computers (gone are the days of a traditional cash register), the receipts are merely reports/outputs. Professional football broadcasts overlay the line of scrimmage and first down markers on a live video footage of the field. Disneyland and other amusement parks use software to control their rides. All these are examples of computers and computer science used in the world around us (and these don’t even include the cell phones, laptops and other mobile devices we carry with us).
As CS Ed week approaches, I encourage you to challenge your students to write down every place where computers and computer science are used as they go about their week (include the weekend). I’m sure they’ll be surprised as to all the places it reaches and will lead to some good conversations in the classroom!
Shirley Miranda
CSTA Board of Directors

3 thoughts on “Seeing Computer Science Everywhere

  1. You bring up a perspective that I frequently mention to my students. ATMs have replaced tellers, self-checkouts have replaced cash-register clerks and now iPads have replaced waiters?
    Is this all really good? Most of the students seem to think yes. Like you I miss the cheerful good morning from a cash-register clerk.

  2. In my opinion, the application and integration of computer science is only going to advance and expand. One way to keep up and stay competitive in new technology is to engage students in STEM. The industries within STEM are some the fastest growing, but the availability of graduates within STEM is concerning. Merely 19 out of every 100 students graduate with a STEM degree. Here is more on the matter: http://www.onlineengineeringdegree.com/stem-shortage/.

  3. Few years from now the world is going to revolve around internet.Technology, computer and computer science are making in-roads even into the smallest of our daily encounters and transaction.Your encounter with the restaurant serving customized food on ipad is a very surprising experience, but i think it has just started.

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