Unplugged Education in the Age of AI
Meet the speakers
Tim Bell
Tim Bell is a professor in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering at the University of Canterbury, Aotearoa (New Zealand). His main research interest is computer science education, and his “Computer Science Unplugged” project, which introduces students and teachers to computer science without using computers, is used internationally. His work in CS education has been widely recognised, including receiving the 2018 ACM SIGCSE Outstanding Contribution to Computer Science Education award. He is also a qualified musician, and performs regularly on instruments that have black-and-white keyboards.
Henry Hickman
Henry Hickman is a Lecturer in the School of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of New South Wales. His main research interest is computer science education, with a focus on assessment. His automated assessment tool has been used across New Zealand to make the subject more accessible and equitable. His research focuses on inclusivity, and making programming something anyone can partake in. He is also perfectly normal about the TV show Survivor.
Ben Swift
Dr. Ben Swift is a Senior Lecturer and PhD Program Convenor at the ANU School of Cybernetics. Ben is an internationally-recognised interdisciplinary scholar, electronic/computer music artist and creative technologist. He’s an expert in AI/machine learning, computational art & music, computing education, user experience (UX) design, and cybernetics. He leads the Cybernetic Studio—a cybernetic community that makes things out of hardware/software/people/stuff to explore cybernetic systems and their impact on the world. As a livecoding artist he has performed at international arts festivals, including the International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA) and the International Conference on Live Coding (ICLC). He is also a founding director of the ANU Laptop Ensemble, an interdisciplinary computer music research and teaching collective. Ben is a maker of open-source software tools for generative AI, music, creative code, data analysis/visualisation, and more. He’s one half of the core development team for the Extempore programming environment GitHub stars for musical livecoding. Extempore’s users are a worldwide community of programmers, artists, musicians, and data visualisation practitioners. He has more than 15 years’ experience as an OSS community manager, technical writer, software engineer and creative code outreach ambassador.
Event details
Let's talk about the importance of Unplugged Education.
Join Tim Bell and Ben Swift and hear about:
The foundations of CS Unplugged: Decades of cards, string and crayons have taught the deep ideas of computing without ever touching a computer.
Why the method applies to teaching anything: Unplugged is, at its core, a design philosophy making abstract concepts tangible, experiential, and engaging. Students learn by doing.
LLMs Unplugged: Building a pen-and-paper AI language model turns the most mystified technology of the moment into something that can be easily understood at a basic level (and taken home as a souvenir).
Don't miss out on this public talk on Monday 10 August 12pm.
What is CS Unplugged?
Computer Science (CS) Unplugged is a pedagogical tool that can help engage students with ideas from Computer Science without using computers. It complements students learning to program, gets them thinking beyond just typing code, and also happens to provide a nice break from being in front of a screen! Read more about it on the CS Unplugged page.
On Monday 10 August, 1:30pm you can join Tim Bell and Henry Hickman to explore some "Unplugged" activities, and discuss a variety of applications, including demonstrations to junior students, providing a catalyst for the school curriculum, and engaging university level students. We will also look at some general principles used to design unplugged activities that work well.
What is LLMs Unplugged?
Despite the rapid uptake of AI around the globe (including right here in Australia), most people have no real mental model of what’s actually happening under the hood of our most popular AI tools. Rather than accepting the hand-wave-y and mystical-sounding explanations, join us in this fun and informative workshop where you'll learn about Large Language Models (LLMs) - the technology behind the mind-boggling abilities of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Co-Pilot - without actually touching any tech.
On Tuesday 11 August, 10:00am, you'll peek inside the black box by creating your own paper-and-pen language model in a playful context. We will illustrate the core concepts that underpin today’s LLMs and discuss the opportunities and pitfalls of generative AI in an education setting.
This workshop is perfect for educators across a range of disciplines – not just the technologies. If you’re having conversations with your students about AI, this workshop is for you.
Our activities require zero coding background and no maths beyond basic counting and percentages. They can be easily replicated in the classroom with free and readily available materials.
This ANU School of Cybernetics and ANU School of Computing event was made possible through funding from an ANU College of Systems and Society Learning & Teaching Grant.
In-person only. RSVP's are essential: register to your preferred session/s.
Please note: parking on campus is limited and we recommend alternative transport options where possible.
The program
- 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Unplugged Education in the Age of AI | Public talk
Innovation Space, Level 2, Birch building
- 1:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
In the kitchen, outside the Innovation space.
- 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
CS Unplugged | Workshop
Innovation Space, Level 2, Birch building
Tickets for good, not greed Humanitix dedicates 100% of profits from booking fees to charity
