CS4NE: Unplugged CS Critical Thinking Puzzles

CS4NE & AI in the Classroom: AI Generated Instructional Videos

This crossover episode discusses using AI-generated video for instructional purposes and student projects. Kimberly and Guy show short AI-generated Revolutionary War news clips, then use them to highlight the importance of strong prompting, historical accuracy, media literacy, and ethical concerns. Key takeaways include that AI videos are currently short, sometimes inaccurate, and can be costly to generate, but they can spark rich classroom conversations about deepfakes, bias, copyright, historical perspective, and responsible AI use.

CS4NE: Unplugged CS Critical Thinking Puzzles

This CS4NE episode shares unplugged critical-thinking activities that help students practice problem solving beyond coding. Kimberly highlights social deduction puzzles, where students use yes-or-no questions to uncover a hidden story, and rebus puzzles, which challenge students to interpret words and images creatively. The episode emphasizes metacognition, efficient questioning, flexible thinking, and helping students approach problems from new angles.

CS4NE: Unplugged CS Activities

This CS4NE episode highlights unplugged computer science activities that build problem-solving, creativity, communication, and teamwork without using computers. Kimberly shares a cup-stacking challenge using cups, string, and rubber bands, where students must collaborate under increasing constraints, and an index-card challenge where students figure out how to cut a small card so it can fit over someone’s head. The hosts connect both activities to core computer science ideas, including multiple solutions, iteration, debugging, collaboration, and the broader value of computational thinking beyond simply writing code.

CS4NE: Cyber Footprints

This CS4NE episode explores digital footprints through photo metadata and cybersecurity awareness. Kimberly demonstrates how images can contain hidden EXIF metadata, including device information, timestamps, camera settings, and even exact GPS coordinates, showing how much personal information can travel with a photo. The episode highlights how this lesson can help students think critically about what they share online, while also using metadata as a media literacy tool to investigate where an image came from, when it was created, and whether it may have been altered or misrepresented.

Crossover Show - CS4NE & AI in the Classroom: AI Generated Instructional Videos

This crossover episode of AI in the Classroom and CS4NE explores how teachers can help students use AI for more than simple search. Kimberly and Guy discuss using AI role-play activities, such as having students “interview” a hexagon, the element mercury, or a historical figure, to make content more interactive and engaging. They emphasize the importance of teacher-created guardrails, structured prompts, and supervised use, especially with younger students. The episode also highlights opportunities to teach students about AI’s strengths, limitations, and appropriate boundaries while using it as a creative learning tool.