How fiction can support the teaching of societal implications of emerging technologies? A case study on facial recognition activities with K-9 students

Abstract

We report from a fiction-based teaching activity in K-9 education in which 41 students (aged 13-15 y) were taught about the societal implications of emerging technologies – in this case, facial recognition technologies. Whereas current Child-Computer Interaction research primarily focuses on technical and conceptual aspects of emerging technologies in K-9 education, less emphasis has been put on the societal implications of emerging technologies. This is due to the complexity of these societal implications for K-9 students, the typical separation of technical and societal elements in K-9 teaching, as well as the influence of assumptions regarding technology implications. Based on prior Child-Computer Interaction research on fiction-based activities in educational contexts, we demonstrate how fiction-based activities can be useful to overcome the current challenges of teaching about societal implications of emerging technologies. Our study demonstrates how fiction-based activities can expose students to different stakeholders' perspectives and develop nuanced opinions about ethical and societal implications of emerging technologies. However, there were aspects that were not fully supported by the approach, like students' understanding of algorithmic bias and connection to real-life scenarios. Our research results also generated a list of important questions to be addressed by future Child-Computer Interaction research to fully embrace the potential of fiction-based activities in regard to emerging technologies’ societal implications within K9 education.