Code for What?: Computer Science for Storytelling and Social Justice

Coding for a purpose: helping young people combine journalism, data, design, and code to make media that makes a difference.

Educators are urged to teach "code for all"--to make a specialized field accessible for students usually excluded from it. In Code for What? Clifford Lee and Elisabeth Soep instead ask the question, "code for what?" What if coding were a justice-driven medium for storytelling rather than a narrow technical skill? What if "democratizing" computer science went beyond the usual one-off workshop and empowered youth to create digital products for social impact? Lee and Soep answer these questions with stories of a diverse group of young people in Oakland, California, who combine journalism, data, design, and code to create media that make a difference.

These teenage and young adult producers created interactive projects that explored gendered and racialized dress code policies in schools; designed tools for LBGTQ+ youth experiencing discrimination; investigated facial recognition software and what can be done about it; and developed a mobile app to promote mental health through self-awareness and outreach for support, and more, for distribution to audiences that could reach into the millions. Working with educators and media professionals at YR Media, an award-winning organization that helps young people from underserved communities build skills in media, journalism, and the arts, these teens found their own vibrant answers to "why code?" They code for insight, connection and community, accountability, creative expression, joy, and hope.

為了一個目的而編碼：幫助年輕人結合新聞、數據、設計和編碼，創造有影響力的媒體。

教育工作者被敦促教授「編碼適用於所有人」- 讓通常被排除在外的學生能夠接觸到這個專業領域。在《為了什麼而編碼？》一書中，Clifford Lee和Elisabeth Soep提出了一個問題：「為了什麼而編碼？」如果編碼是一種以正義為導向的敘事媒介，而不僅僅是一種狹窄的技術技能，會怎樣呢？如果「民主化」計算機科學超越了通常的一次性研討會，讓年輕人能夠創造具有社會影響力的數字產品，會怎樣呢？Lee和Soep通過在加利福尼亞州奧克蘭的一群多樣化的年輕人的故事回答了這些問題，這些年輕人結合新聞、數據、設計和編碼，創造了有影響力的媒體。

這些十幾歲和年輕成年製片人創建了互動項目，探索了學校中性別和種族化的服裝規定政策；為遭受歧視的LGBTQ+青年設計了工具；調查了人臉識別軟件以及如何應對；並開發了一個移動應用程序，通過自我意識和支持外展來促進心理健康，並且還有更多，這些作品可以分發給數百萬觀眾。這些青少年與YR Media的教育工作者和媒體專業人士合作，YR Media是一個屢獲殊榮的組織，幫助來自弱勢社區的年輕人在媒體、新聞和藝術方面建立技能，他們找到了自己對「為什麼編碼？」的生動答案。他們編碼是為了洞察力、連結和社區、責任、創造性表達、喜悅和希望。

Clifford Lee is Professor and Director of Educators for Liberation, Justice, and Joy Teacher Education program at Mills College at Northeastern University and Scholar-in-Residence at YR Media. Elisabeth Soep is Special Projects Producer and Senior Scholar-in-Residence at YR Media. Her work has been featured in major media including NPR, the New York Times, National Geographic, and Teen Vogue. She is the author of Participatory Politics (MIT Press).

Clifford Lee是李克福大學Mills College的教育解放、正義和喜悅教師教育計劃的教授和主任，也是YR Media的學者駐地。Elisabeth Soep是YR Media的特別項目製作人和高級學者駐地。她的作品曾在包括NPR、紐約時報、國家地理和Teen Vogue在內的主要媒體中亮相。她是《參與政治》（MIT Press）的作者。