MULTILOGUE: PERSPECTIVES ON COMPUTATIONAL THINKING AND ITS UTILITY FOR TRANSFORMATIVE EDUCATION

126 MULTILOGUE: PERSPECTIVES ON COMPUTATIONAL THINKING AND ITS UTILITY FOR TRANSFORMATIVE EDUCATION 1 Louis A mand, Ví Bohal, Ma io Giampaolo, Alessand a Romano The ollowing ex is a collabo a i e mul ilogue be ween he Cen e o C i ical and Cul u al Theo y a he Depa men o Anglophone Li e a u es and Cul u es (Cha les Uni e si y) and he Depa men o Educa ion, Human Sciences and In e cul u al Communica ion (Uni e si y o Siena). I ocuses on he a o dances and disposi ions o compu a ional hinking wi hin educa ion and unpacks he ecen calls o c i ical e lec ion wi hin he ield o he digi al humani ies. The ini ial impulse o assembling his collabo a i e e lec ion came om he Eu opean Libe al A s Ne wo k p og am in ended o os e in e -ins i u ional exchange and collabo a ion. Ví Bohal: Compu a ional hinking has been a cen al issue in he digi al humani ies schola ship o mo e han a decade and i s impac on pedagogy has inc easingly become a poin o in e es . 2 Da id Be y’s and Ande s Fage jo d’s Digi al Humani ies (2017) o example in oduces he no ion o he “Digi al Humani ies S ack” which ega ds compu a ional hinking as one o he wo 1 This wo k was suppo ed by he Eu opean Regional De elopmen Fund-P ojec “C ea i i y and Adap abili y as Condi ions o he Success o Eu ope in an In e ela ed Wo ld” (No. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_019/0000734). 2 Jeanne e M. Wing, “Compu a ional Thinking and Thinking abou Compu e s,” Philosophical T ansac ions o he Royal Socie y, 366 (2008): 3717; Jeanne e M. Wing, “Compu a ional Thinking Bene i s Socie y,” Social Issues in Compu ing (10 Janua y 2014), h p://socialissues.cs. o on o.edu/index.h ml%3Fp=279.h ml, accessed 19 Decembe 2019. See also Da id M. Be y, “The Compu a ional Tu n: Thinking abou he Digi al Humani ies,” Cul u e Machine, 12 (2011): 1-22. Mul ilogue 127 undamen al componen s o “Encoding and Educa ion.” In hei chap e en i led “On he Way o Compu a ional Thinking,” he wo au ho s cha he genealogy o he concep , and u he specula e on i s u he ole in he o ma ion o he digi al humani ies and pedagogy. They de ine compu a ional hinking as he abili y o e lec ou inely on whe e he compu e may be applied o humani ies wo k in o de o au oma e a p ocess o a collec ion o p ocesses. This abili y o ecas he humani ies wo k wi hin a wo k low ha can be b oken up in o disc e e elemen s subjec o an au oma ion is a co e cons i uen o he abili y o c ea e and manipula e humani ies da a in he digi al humani ies. 3 The au ho s make clea ha hey do no ega d compu a ional hinking as jus he know-how o linking up sys ems in he conc e e, bu also he abili y o design sys ems in he abs ac and ha e one’s own hinking be ecu si ely de ined by hose sys ems, de ailing o example he way in which language and cogni ion a e s uc u ed by hinking h ough he e y me apho s o code, such as “objec s, classes, and ins ances.” 4 One o he mos ci ed amings o compu a ional hinking is ha o Jeane e M. Wing who, building on he wo k o Aho and Ullman, de ines compu a ional hinking as an “au oma ion o ou abs ac ions” 5 which unc ions wi hin he o e lapping ield be ween ma hema ical, scien i ic, and enginee ing hinking. Wing hus also de ines compu a ional hinking no only as a o m o p ac ical knowledge, bu a he as a ype o compu e -o ien ed cogni i e syn ax, a sys em o abs ac ion which has he capabili y o change a human’s pe cep ion o he wo ld and he a o dances which i p o ides. I is in e es ing o ocus on he c i icisms le elled a he o en highly echno- op imis and echnoc a ic app oach o compu a ional hinking. In his la es book New Da k Age (2018), James B idle o example ea s he implica ions o hinking h ough machines, and ega ds compu a ional hinking as a “chasm” 6 which leads o a ype o gene al solu ionis mind-se . Belie ing ha we lose mo e han we gain in indisc imina ely hopping on he bandwagon o compu a ional modes o hough , he w i es ha 3 Da id M. Be y and Ande s Fage jo d, Digi al Humani ies: Knowledge and C i ique in a Digi al Age (Camb idge: Poli y, 2017) n.p. 4 Be y and Fage jo d, n.p. 5 Wing, “Compu a ional Thinking and Thinking abou Compu e s,” 3718. 6 James B idle, The New Da k Age (London: Ve so, 2019) 10. A mand, Bohal, Giampaolo, Romano 128 Compu a ional hinking is an ex ension o wha o he s ha e called solu ionism: he belie ha any gi en p oblem can be sol ed by he applica ion o compu a ion. Wha e e he p ac ical o social p oblem we ace, he e is an app o i . […] compu a ional hinking supposed – o en a an unconscious le el – ha he wo ld eally is like he solu ionis s p opose. I in e nalises solu ionism o he deg ee ha i is impossible o hink and a icula e he wo ld in e ms which a e no compu able. 7 B idle ega ds his as he c ux o ou con empo a y socio-poli ical c isis – he ac ha people li ing in he digi al milieu ha e los con ac wi h wha is eal and wha is i ual (mos succinc ly encapsula ed in he concep o “au oma ion bias”). He goes on o c i ique he allacy o he seeming solu ionis o e lap be ween he eali y and i s i ual model, be ween he map and he e i o y. B idle is me ely one among many hinke s who le el simila accusa ions owa ds Wing’s la en ly en ep eneu ial and echno-op imis ision o how compu a ional hinking can and should be ins umen alised. 8 Conside ing ha bo h B idle and Be y and Fage jo d unde s and he need o a c i ical app oach o he ield o digi al humani ies, he ques ion o how compu a ional hinking do e ails wi h his c i ical u n is cen al. A cogen c i ique o compu a ional hinking is especially cen al o didac ics, as i has been he nexus o he deba e since i s e y incep ion 9 and is he ield whe e he digi al humani ies ha e he g ea es impac and h ough which hey a e u he p omulga ed. Compu a ional hinking and i s ole in he o ma ion o he u u e h ough educa ional p ac ices is hus a cen al issue which any c i ical eapp aisal o i s modus ope andi ough o add ess. Alessand a Romano: I would like o o e new insigh s by adop ing he concep ual amewo k o he ans o ma i e lea ning heo y, 10 o c i ical e lec ion s udy 11 and o a pos -mode n pe spec i e on compu a ion in he con ex o 7 B idle 4. 8 S e e Eas e b ook, “F om Compu a ional Thinking o Sys ems Thinking: A Concep ual Toolki o Sus ainabili y Compu ing,” P oceedings o he 2014 Con e ence ICT o Sus ainabili y (Pa is: A lan is P ess, 2014) 236-38. Lau a Pappano, “Lea ning o Think Like a Compu e ,” The New Yo k Times, 4 Ap il 2017, www.ny imes.com/2017/04/04/ educa ion/edli e/ eaching-s uden s-compu e -code.h ml, accessed 19 Decembe 2019. 9 Jeanne e M. Wing, “Compu a ional Thinking,” Communica ions o he ACM 49.3 (Ma ch 2006): 33-35. 10 Jack Mezi ow, App endimen o e as o mazione (Milano: Ra aello Co ina Edi o e, 2003). 11 Donald Schön, Il P o essionis a Ri lessi o: Pe una Nuo a Epis emologia della P a ica P o essionale (Ba i: Edizioni Dedalo, 1993). Mul ilogue 129 lea ning. 12 My posi ion is in he wide- ange o heo ies and con ibu ions on adul educa ion, eaching and lea ning me hods. Some ques ions came up in my mind: How does he me apho o compu a ion ep esen a way o se ing p oblems o he eache and lea ne ? Mos eache s and educa ion esea che s ha e he in ui ion ha compu a ional hinking is a skill a he han a pa icula se o applicable knowledge. 13 I ’s a skill ha allows one o s a om a p oblem o a con used si ua ion, and o se a p oblem-sol ing chain h ough concep s such as ep esen a ion, di ide-and- conque , abs ac ion, in o ma ion hiding, e i ica ion, and logical easoning. This is no jus a na ow p ocess: eedback, unexpec ed ou comes, and un esol ed issues a e s imuli o e- hink back o he p og amming/se ing. In his sense, how compu a ional hinking is a me apho o in oducing p oblem-based and p oblem-se ing hinking? How could p oblem-based lea ning acili a e a way o ansla ing compu a ional hinking in o didac ic p ac ices? Fu he mo e, I would like o ecall also pos humanis epis emologies. Pos - mode n/pos humanis epis emologies decen e he human subjec , linking he social and he na u al, he mind and body and he cogni i e and he a ec i e. 14 This pos -epis emology enables o go beyond he p oblema ic dualisms o ac ion/s uc u e, human/non-human, mind/body, machine/mind, in o de o see eason no as an inna e men al acul y, bu as a phenomenon o p ac ice, and o ques ion indi idual ac ions and hei s a us as building blocks o he social. 15 Hence hinking and lea ning p ocesses, he hand and he head, he body and he machine, should be iewed as connec ion-in-ac ion and in in e ac ion. Louis A mand: The ela ionship o so-called compu a ional hinking o pedagogy aises a numbe o ques ions, o a simila kind o hose posed by G eg Ulme ’s Applied G amma ology (1985), which is ha o educa ional ‘me hod’ and he econs i u ion o he logos o a ‘posi i e science’ o communica ion and con ol. 12 S. Ghe a di, E. Hou becke s, A. Jalonen, G. Kallio, S. Ka ila, P.-M. Laine, “A Collec i e Dialogic Inqui y in o Pos -Quali a i e Me hodologies,” wo kshop a he No dic Sociological Associa ion (NSA) Con e ence, Helsinki, 11-13 Augus 2016. 13 P.J. Denning, “Remaining T ouble Spo s wi h Compu a ional Thinking,” Communica ions o he Associa ion o Compu ing Machine y, 60.6 (2017): 33-39. 14 Ghe a di, e al. n.p. 15 T.R. Scha zki, “In oduc ion. P ac ice Theo y,” The P ac ice Tu n in Con empo a y Theo y, ed. T.R. Scha zki, Ka in Kno -Ce ina and Eike on Sa igny (London and New Yo k: Rou ledge, 2001) 1-14. A mand, Bohal, Giampaolo, Romano 130 This p oblema ic has ound ecen echoes in B a on’s concep ion o he “S ack” 16 as an a chi ec u al sys em o compu a ional hough in which s ochas ic p ocesses o cybe ne ic e olu ion a e o malised and b ough unde he logis ical con ol o ‘in elligen ’ megas uc u es. Tha hese logis ical ecologies a e concei ed o as au onomous agencies poses an addi ional ques ion o how such an o e -scaled e olu iona y p og amme can be sepa a ely de ined om ha o he co po a e-s a e appa a us? The weigh o B a on’s a gumen ends owa ds bo h a consequen ialis ‘e olu iona y necessi y’ and a social p agma ics, en isaging a pedagogy designed o p oduce (human) ope a o s whose unc ion would be bo h pa asi ic and ca aly ic. These ques ions hen become: How do endencies o machinic lea ning unc ion o en ain he social in an ongoing subjec i isa ion o sys ems o co po a e-s a e con ol, unde he decep i e ub ic o “au onomous” ( he e o e somehow emancipa i e) AI? Agains such an en ainmen , wha esou ces can be ex ac ed om compu a ional hinking (such as GANs [Gene a i e Ad e sa ial Ne wo ks]) o a adical pedagogy capable o deploying s a egic and ac ical means o sub e ing a social cybe ne ics o con ol, and o exposing and neu alizing sys ems o c yp o-“encoding” ( om da a agg ega ion o social c edi )? Alessand a Romano: The ques ion hen seems o be how o de elop a adical pedagogical app oach ha nu u es emancipa o y lea ning ia ac ical means. How and unde wha condi ions is i possible o p omo e he sub e sion o he cybe ne ics o social con ol? As acul y and adul educa o s, ou in e es is in sea ching and inding me hodological pa hs capable o p omo ing awa eness and e lec i e hinking upon i ually-media ed cons ain s. We e e pa icula ly o he heo e ical amewo k o he e lec i e and ans o ma i e educa ion as applied o social and i ual con ex s o li e. Ou choice implies an epis emological lens on how lea ne s de elop capabili ies and compe ences o alida e he way humans and non-humans a e in e connec ed in o de o each a sub e si e coun e -in e p e a ion o he powe be ween he human and he compu e . We sugges in e p e ing compu a ional hinking as a p oblem-based app oach and o a oid ex emis and adicalised posi ions agains echnology- based solu ions wo king wi hin a ma e ial ne wo k composed o objec s and subjec s. In his sense, compu a ional hinking is much mo e han a me apho o unde s anding and de ining he ac o hinking and o men al p ocesses h ough he media ion o a compu e . This opens up o an educa ional s ance ha conside s 16 Benjamin B a on, The S ack (Camb idge, MA: MIT P ess, 2015). Mul ilogue 131 lea ning p ocesses as p oblem-se /p oblem-sol e p ocedu es aimed a p omo ing emancipa o y posi ions and ha e use educ ionism. Ví Bohal: The ques ion hen seems o be in wha manne compu a ional hinking ‘en ains’ o co-op s passi e ep oduc ion on he pa o he lea ne , and in wha manne i can be a me hod o pe sonal, as well as communi y-based, o e en socie y-wide, emancipa ion. In wha way does he eaching o compu a ional hinking c ea e complici y on he pa o he lea ne s, and in wha manne can i be a me hod o emancipa o y and po en ially sub e si e, p axis? One hing Alessand a Romano has w i en he e, is ha compu a ional hinking is “a se o pedagogical skills and an educa ional s ance ha conside s lea ning p ocesses as p oblem-se /p oblem-sol e p ocedu es [...].” In The New Da k Age, James B idle speaks exac ly agains his ype o “solu ionis ” mindse . 17 His s ance is ex eme on he spec um inso a as he ega ds he e y concep ion o ‘sol ing’ he cu en p oblems o he digi al age wi h mo e compu a ional hinking as comple ely misplaced and implici ly suspec . An analogous s ance can be ound in he c i ical heo is A an C aw o d’s s a emen ha “[ ]he poli ical emp a ion [...] o seek poli ical solu ions o he ca as ophe o poli ics” is inhe en ly misplaced inso a as he si ua ion o a seeming poli ical cul de sac will no be sol ed wi h mo e poli ics. 18 Is he “ emp a ion o seek compu a ional solu ions o he ca as ophe o he compu a ional e a” also an example o misplaced hope? A e he skill se s which suppo compu a ional hinking inhe en ly pe e ed by wen y- i s cen u y co po a e-s a e appa a uses? I do no hink so. The “p oblem-se /p oblem-sol e” ocus o compu a ional hinking can jus as easily be used o pe sonal and social emancipa ion i app oached wi h a p ope ly c i ical (i.e., non- educ ionis ) ame o mind. As an example, he skill o c yp og aphy does no necessa ily ha e o be employed in he se ice o a co po a e-s a e appa a us, bu can jus as easily be employed on he le el o mic o-poli ics, such as in using enc yp ed email (P o onmail, Riseup), al e na e sys ems o exchange and con ac ing (blockchain, sma con ac s), o c ea ing al e na e social ne wo ks which a e no complici wi h he Big Da a ading o Facebook o Google (Diaspo a). The ques ion o solu ionism always in eg ally asks abou alignmen wi h sha ed goals: in whose se ice is he p oblem-sol ing po en ial o compu a ional hinking employed o en emains a la gely open ques ion. In many cases, knowledge o compu a ional hinking can in ac os e he abili y o decouple 17 B idle 4. 18 A an C aw o d, “On Le ing Go,” Šum: Re ija za k i iko sodobne umje nos i, 9 (2018): 1178. A mand, Bohal, Giampaolo, Romano 132 om e hically suspec se ice p o ide s and gene a e al e na i e p ojec s o communi y building, cul u al p oduc ion and economic exchange. 19 Ma io Giampaolo: Reading he insigh s ha Alessand a Romano, Ví Bohal and Louis A mand exp essed, my hough s in ela ion o compu a ional hinking go o he coding ac i i y. I is in he w i ing o languages in ended o a machine ha compu a ional hinking can ind space o i s de elopmen . Compu e s a e ideal pe o me s bu hey a e no in elligen : his is why he ins uc ions a machine has o execu e equi e a highe deg ee o o mali y and igou han communica ion be ween humans. P og amming makes he concep s o compu a ional hinking conc e e and becomes a lea ning ool. Coding so wa e as lea ning ools can be di ided in wo ca ego ies: ex p og amming sys ems and isual p og amming sys ems: in he i s he ins uc ions mus be w i en in sequence using a ex edi o ; in isual sys ems, ins ead, he single ins uc ions a e ep esen ed by objec s ha can be d agged and combined in o a wo k a ea. My aim in his discussion is o ocus on he second ypology o sys ems ha o e a WYSIWYG in e ace o coding (WYSIWYG is he ac onym o “wha you see is wha you ge ”). These in e aces make simple and lea nable he compe ences ha be o e could be de eloped only a e long aining (like in he case o he coding compe ences). Fo example, Sc a ch, de eloped in 2007 by he Li elong Kinde ga en g oup o he M.I.T. Bos on MediaLab led by P o esso Mi chel Resnick, is a so wa e in which use s can p og am using sequences o blocks o gi e ins uc ions o cha ac e s on he sc een o o obo s. Visual sys ems o coding a e o en p e e ed by eache s and educa o s because block p og amming allows o ocus on he p ocess, no aking in o conside a ion he co ec ness o he language: he blocks a e al eady syn ac ically co ec and i is possible o concen a e on easoning. Lea ning o code and consequen ly de eloping compu a ional hinking helps o acqui e he awa eness ha i is possible o in e ac wi h IT echnical ools ha su ound us no only passi ely, simply using hem, bu also in an ac i e manne , ha is h ough p og amming hem di ec ly. And his is, in my opinion, he eal pu pose ha makes compu a ional hough some hing necessa y o e e ybody. To be able o in e ac mo e and mo e ac i ely wi h he eali y ha su ounds us, wi h en i onmen s made o objec s ha can communica e wi h each o he and wi h us, we mus lea n o p og am. Le us hink o Google’s “ ou ines” o Amazon’s 19 Gene Youngblood, “Secession om he B oadcas : The In e ne and he C isis o Social Con ol,” Millennium Film Jou nal, 58.1 (2013): 174-89. Mul ilogue 133 “skills” ha allow us o p og am en i onmen s in a simple way, using ou oice and s a ing om a simple cause and e ec o mula: he IFTTT “i his hen ha .” Blocks o he IFTTT o mula make simple o code ou li e: s o ies o ideogames on a compu e , in elligen objec s, o obo s. Things ha we will ind mo e and mo e in ou homes and in ou wo kplaces. This is he objec i e eache s and educa o s ha e o pu sue in acili a ing compu a ional hinking among lea ne s, and oday mo e han e e his is wi hin e e yone’s each. Louis A mand: The challenge o adical pedagogy is o de elop a comp ehensi e and gene a i e se o ac ics and s a egies o bo h a ‘c i ique o eason’ and a ‘c i ique o un eason.’ The wo king p inciple o wha you see is wha you ge equally applies in his domain, bo h as a naked denomina o (wha you see is in ac wha you ge , e en i i a i es in an in e ed o m) and as he seduc ion o a he meneu ics o ‘seeing’ ha p esen s i sel as neu al (ou side o play): ha he e is a ela ionship be ween an objec i iable me hodology o ‘seeing’ and he eceip o some quid p o quo on ha basis (e.g., knowledge as pu e [ echno- cybe ne ic] exchange). This ins umen al ela ionship be ween a ce ain kind o seeing and a co esponding kind o ge ing can and has been ex ended o all a eas o s a egic compu a ion, in which he e ms o engagemen ( he epis emological scene, so o speak) a e p e-comp ehended o p ede e mined (including, e.g., he “obse e pa adox”). Such ope a ions, howe e , no ma e how eg essi e o con olu ed o ela i is ic, ha e con en ionally been p emised upon an unde lying Reason. The concep o un eason, o o i a ionali y, has no escaped his subsump ion in o he discou se o Reason, ha ing been cons ained, axonomised, o de ed and disciplined (in e ec , ehabili a ed, e-educa ed and e-p og ammed) so as o unc ion p oduc i ely wi hin a social he meneu ics: om he ins i u ionalisa ion o psychia y o he exploi a ion o i a ionalism and mass hys e ia in p opaganda, public ela ions, ad e ising, e c. Subjec o he ins umen al gaze o Reason, he i a ional has hus become ye ano he ool in he mode o wha you see is wha you ge . This endency immedia ely e eals i sel as one o o alisa ion, so ha any hing ha alls wi hin he ield o his (panop ical) gaze – including any o m o sub e sion, c i ique o coun e - knowledge – mus be subsumed in o i and made subjec o i s au ho i y o au ho isa ion. 20 The ques ion, hen, is no simply how such a decisi ely ideological o ma ion ( ami ied by a gene al algo i hmics) migh be esis ed wi hin a pedagogical 20 Michel Foucaul , Su eille e puni : Naissance de la p ison (Pa is: Gallima d, 1975). A mand, Bohal, Giampaolo, Romano 134 amewo k – in o de o pe mi ‘ ee hough ’ o he ‘ eedom’ o an ‘expe imen al knowledge’ ha is no esigned o s aying wi hin bounds; a he he ques ion is, wha occu s in ou unde s anding o his o alising mo emen when un eason can no longe be con iden ly assumed o be he me e objec o Reason, bu has i sel become i s dominan cha ac e is ic? In o he wo ds, when he ‘logic’ o such a subjec ion is seen o be (consequence o a decons uc ion o he e y pa adigm o seeing) in he se ice o he ‘i a ional.’ This would appea o be ou cu en poli ical si ua ion, in which appeals o Reason ha e only exace ba ed he p oblem because hey ha e emained blind o his sys em’s sub e si e a ionale. This is he ealm o Goya’s Slumbe o Reason, in which Reason engende s mons e s (“El sueño de la azón p oduce mons uos”): no because Reason has been pu o sleep, bu – as Ba aille w i es – because a ce ain deli ium has assumed he o m o Reason. 21 In ligh o he compac be ween a ce ain Reason and ad ances in compu a ional hinking, pedagogy needs o be “ e hough ,” no as a sys em o ins uc ion, bu as a c i ique o such sys ems (and he deep impac o hei mode o p e-cogni ion and p ede e mina ion o he ‘lea ning p ocess’ i sel ). This equi es an unde s anding o how such (ad e sa ial) sys ems hemsel es lea n (in pa icula , how hey agg ega e da a om o he pedagogies) and how hey a e able o subjec he e y idea o lea ning o a egime o (i a ional) con ol – in a manne no dissimila o ha o he F eudian supe -ego – upon which i is made o be dependen . In his sense, he p esen echno-cybe ne ic amewo k o a ‘new’ pedagogy ma ks a e u n o undamen al ques ions o cybe ne ics i sel , in he in es iga ion o con ol and communica ion in he human machine, and wi hin he echnosphe e a la ge: an in es iga ion conce ned wi h ela ions o complexi y, inde e minacy, pe u ba ion and he classi ica ion, ul ima ely, o wha would cons i u e a ‘ a ional’ sys em. In his sense, oo, i mus con end wi h a esidual Humanism concealed – howe e coun e -in ui i ely – in such an unde aking. In 1970, Paulo F ei e iden i ied his as a undamen al p oblem o heo ising pedagogy, no because o some ine able ‘dehumanising’ echnological h ea , 21 See Jacques De ida, “F om Res ic ed o Gene al Economy,” W i ing and Di e ence, ans. Alan Bass (London: Rou ledge, 1978) 251. In his Zu K i ik de Hegelschen Rech sphilosophie (1843), Ma x likewise desc ibes Hegel’s logic as “logical mys icism,” echoing Feue bach’s ph ase “mys ique o eason.” C . Ka l Ma x, Ea ly W i ings (London: Penguin, 1975) 61; Ludwig Feue bach, Übe Philosophie und Ch is en hum in Beziehung au den de Hegel’schen Philosophie gemach en Vo wu de Unch is lichkei (Mannheim: Ho und Heuse , 1839).