PDCunplugged: A Free Repository of Unplugged Parallel Distributed Computing Activities

Abstract

Integrating parallel and distributed computing (PDC) topics in core computing courses is a topic of increasing interest for educators. However, there is a question of how best to introduce PDC to undergraduates. Several educators have proposed the use of “unplugged activities”, such as role-playing dramatizations and analogies, to introduce PDC concepts. Yet, unplugged activities for PDC are widely-scattered and often difficult to find, making it challenging for educators to create and incorporate unplugged interventions in their classrooms. The PDCunplugged project seeks to rectify these issues by providing a free repository where educators can find and share unplugged activities related to PDC. The existing curation contains nearly forty unique unplugged activities collected from thirty years of the PDC literature and from all over the Internet, and maps each activity to relevant CS2013 PDC knowledge units and TCPP PDC topic areas. Learn more about the project at pdcunplugged.org.