AP Computer Science Principles Big Idea 5

AP Computer Science Principles - Big Idea 5: Impact of Computing

Overview

• This big idea explores the extensive impacts of computer programs on societies, economies, and cultures. It covers legal and ethical concerns, and the responsibilities of programmers.
• Students should be aware of the risks of sharing Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and take steps to keep their information safe.
• This topic integrates well with Creative Development, Data, and Computing Systems and Networks.

Computational Thinking Practices

• 1.C: Explaining how collaboration affects solution development.
• 5.C: Describing the impact of a computing innovation.
• 5.D: Describing the impact of gathering data.
• 5.E: Evaluating computing use based on legal and ethical factors.

Collaborative Team Development

• A collaborative team should include people from diverse backgrounds (genders, ages, races) to represent all potential users.
• Diverse groups help avoid unintentional bias and potential negative effects, such as contributing to the digital divide.
• Investigating existing computing innovations helps students avoid negative effects in their own innovations.
• Consumers should be aware of a new computing innovation's impact, including what data is gathered and how it will be used.

Impact Assessment

• It can be difficult for students to understand the impacts of computing innovations on people different from them or on society as a whole.
• Encourage students to share viewpoints and potential impacts through group discussions like debates.

AP Exam Preparation

• Students will complete three investigations into computing innovations.
  • Focus Areas:
    • Data used by the computing innovation.
    • Data privacy, security, and storage concerns.
    • Beneficial and harmful effects on society, the economy, or culture.
• The end-of-course exam will present a passage about a computing innovation, followed by questions about data and the effects of the innovation.
• Students benefit from investigating a wide range of computing innovations.

Essential Questions

• IOC-1:
  • What software do you use most often? How does it benefit you?
  • Are innovators responsible for unintentional harmful effects of their innovations?
• IOC-2:
  • What data is generated by smartphones, and what are they used for?

Big Idea At A Glance

Sample Instructional Activities

• Activity 1 (Topic 5.1): Marking the text.
  • Students mark beneficial and harmful effects of a computing innovation in an article.
  • They note if harmful effects should have been anticipated and whether beneficial effects were intended or unintended.
• Activity 2 (Topic 5.6): Kinesthetic learning.
  • Small groups create and act out scenes involving privacy and security risks (e.g., phishing, careless passwords).
  • Plays can include best practices for staying safer.

Topic 5.1: Beneficial and Harmful Effects

• Enduring Understanding (IOC-1): Computing innovations may have unintended consequences.
• Learning Objective (IOC-1.A): Explain how an effect of a computing innovation can be both beneficial and harmful.
• Skill (5.C): Describe the impact of a computing innovation.

Essential Knowledge

• IOC-1.A.1: People create computing innovations.
• IOC-1.A.2: Task completion changes with new innovations.
• IOC-1.A.3: Not every effect is anticipated.
• IOC-1.A.4: A single effect can be viewed differently by different people.
• IOC-1.A.5: Computing advances increase creativity in other fields (medicine, engineering, arts, etc.).
• IOC-1.B: Explain how a computing innovation can have an impact beyond its intended purpose.
• IOC-1.B.1: Innovations can be used in unintended ways (e.g., targeted advertising misuse, discrimination via machine learning).
• IOC-1.B.2: Some uses may harm society, the economy, or culture.
• IOC-1.B.3: Responsible programmers consider unintended uses and potential effects.
• IOC-1.B.4: Programmers cannot foresee all uses.
• IOC-1.B.5: Unintended beneficial effects can lead to advances in other fields.
• IOC-1.B.6: Rapid sharing of a program can have significant impacts beyond the programmer's control.

Topic 5.2: Digital Divide

• Enduring Understanding (IOC-1): Computing innovations may have unintended consequences.
• Learning Objective (IOC-1.C): Describe issues that contribute to the digital divide.
• Skill (5.C): Describe the impact of a computing innovation.

Essential Knowledge

• IOC-1.C.1: Internet access varies by socioeconomic, geographic, and demographic factors.
• IOC-1.C.2: The digital divide refers to differing access to computing devices and the Internet.
• IOC-1.C.3: The digital divide can affect both groups and individuals.
• IOC-1.C.4: It raises issues of equity, access, and influence.
• IOC-1.C.5: The digital divide is affected by actions of individuals, organizations, and governments.

Topic 5.3: Computing Bias

• Enduring Understanding (IOC-1): Computing innovations may have unintended consequences.
• Learning Objective (IOC-1.D): Explain how bias exists in computing innovations.
• Skill (5.E): Evaluate the use of computing based on legal and ethical factors.

Essential Knowledge

• IOC-1.D.1: Innovations can reflect existing human biases in algorithms or data.
• IOC-1.D.2: Programmers should reduce bias in algorithms.
• IOC-1.D.3: Biases can be embedded at all levels of software development.

Topic 5.4: Crowdsourcing

• Enduring Understanding (IOC-1): Computing innovations may have unintended consequences.
• Learning Objective (IOC-1.E): Explain how people participate in problem-solving processes at scale.
• Skill (1.C): Explain how collaboration affects the development of a solution.

Essential Knowledge

• IOC-1.E.1: Widespread access to information facilitates problem identification, solution development, and dissemination.
• IOC-1.E.2: Science has been affected by distributed and “citizen science.”
• IOC-1.E.3: Citizen science is research conducted by distributed individuals, many of whom may not be scientists.
• IOC-1.E.4: Crowdsourcing is obtaining input from a large number of people via the Internet.
• IOC-1.E.5: Human capabilities can be enhanced by collaboration via computing.
• IOC-1.E.6: Crowdsourcing offers new models for collaboration.

Topic 5.5: Legal and Ethical Concerns

• Enduring Understanding (IOC-1): Computing innovations may have unintended consequences.
• Learning Objective (IOC-1.F): Explain how the use of computing can raise legal and ethical concerns.
• Skill (5.E): Evaluate the use of computing based on legal and ethical factors.

Essential Knowledge

• IOC-1.F.1: Material created on a computer is intellectual property.
• IOC-1.F.2: Ease of access raises intellectual property concerns.
• IOC-1.F.3: Measures should be taken to safeguard intellectual property.
• IOC-1.F.4: Using material without permission is plagiarism.
• IOC-1.F.5: Creative Commons, open source, and open access enable broad access to digital information.
• IOC-1.F.6: The use of material created by someone other than you should always be cited.
• IOC-1.F.7: Examples of legal ways to use materials created by someone else include:
  • Creative Commons—a public copyright license that enables free distribution.
  • Open source—programs that are freely available and may be redistributed and modified.
  • Open access—online research output free of restrictions.
• IOC-1.F.8: Using computing to harm individuals raises legal and ethical concerns.
• IOC-1.F.9: Computing can play a role in social and political issues, raising legal and ethical concerns.
• IOC-1.F.10: The digital divide raises ethical concerns around computing.
• IOC-1.F.11: Computing innovations can raise legal and ethical concerns, such as biased algorithms or software for accessing digital media downloads and streaming.

Topic 5.6: Safe Computing

• Enduring Understanding (IOC-2): The use of computing innovations may involve risks to personal safety and identity.
• Learning Objective (IOC-2.A): Describe the risks to privacy from collecting and storing personal data on a computer system.
• Skills (5.D): Describe the impact of gathering data.
• Skill (5.E): Evaluate the use of computing based on legal and ethical factors.

Essential Knowledge

• IOC-2.A.1: Personally Identifiable Information (PII) includes information that identifies, links, relates, or describes an individual (e.g., Social Security number, phone number, medical information, biometric data).
• IOC-2.A.2: Search engines can record search history.
• IOC-2.A.3: Websites can record viewing history.
• IOC-2.A.4: Devices, websites, and networks can collect location information.
• IOC-2.A.5: Technology enables the collection, use, and exploitation of information.
• IOC-2.A.6: Search engines can use search history for suggestions or targeted marketing.
• IOC-2.A.7: Disparate personal data can be aggregated to create knowledge about an individual.
• IOC-2.A.8: PII can enhance online experiences.
• IOC-2.A.9: PII can simplify online purchases.
• IOC-2.A.10: Commercial and governmental curation can be exploited if privacy protections are ignored.
• IOC-2.A.11: Information placed online can be used in unintended, harmful ways.
• IOC-2.A.12: PII can be used to stalk or steal identity.
• IOC-2.A.13: Once information is online, it's difficult to delete.
• IOC-2.A.14: Programs can collect and record location data.
• IOC-2.A.15: Social media information can be used to deduce private information.
• (IOC-2.B): Explain how computing resources can be protected and misused.
  • IOC-2.B.1: Authentication measures (strong passwords, multifactor authentication) protect against unauthorized access.
  • IOC-2.B.2: A strong password is easy for a user to remember but hard for others to guess.
  • IOC-2.B.3: Multifactor authentication requires multiple pieces of evidence (knowledge, possession, inherence).
  • IOC-2.B.4: Multifactor authentication adds layers of security.
  • IOC-2.B.5: Encryption encodes data to prevent unauthorized access; decryption decodes data. Symmetric key encryption. Public Key encryption where the sender does not need the receiver’s private key to encrypt a message, but the receiver’s private key is required to decrypt the message.
  • IOC-2.B.6: Certificate authorities issue digital certificates to validate encryption keys.
  • IOC-2.B.7: Virus and malware scanning software protect against infection.
  • IOC-2.B.8: A computer virus is a malicious program that can copy itself.
  • IOC-2.B.9: Malware damages a computing system or takes control of its operation.
  • IOC-2.B.10: Regular updates fix errors compromising systems.
  • IOC-2.B.11: Users control program permissions for information collection.
• (IOC-2.C): Explain how unauthorized access to computing resources is gained.
  • IOC-2.C.1: Keylogging records keystrokes to gain fraudulent access.
  • IOC-2.C.2: Phishing tricks users into providing personal information.
  • IOC-2.C.3: Data sent over public networks can be intercepted, analyzed, and modified.
  • IOC-2.C.4: A rogue access point gives unauthorized access to secure networks.
  • IOC-2.C.5: A malicious link can be disguised.
  • IOC-2.C.6: Unsolicited emails, attachments, links, and forms can compromise security.
  • IOC-2.C.7: Untrustworthy downloads can contain malware.