Professor Kong Siu-cheung, Director of Centre for Learning, Teaching and Technology, and Honorary Doctor Professor Harold Abelson of The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) have co-edited a new publication, entitled “Computational Thinking Education in K–12: Artificial Intelligence Literacy and Physical Computing”.

Published by the MIT Press, the book is a guide to computational thinking (CT) education, with a focus on artificial intelligence literacy and the integration of computing and physical objects. It offers an overview of CT and its importance, addresses the educational implications of the explosion in artificial intelligence (AI) research, discussing, among other things, the importance of teaching children to be conscientious designers and consumers of AI. The book also examines the increasing influence of physical devices in CT education, considering the learning opportunities offered by robotics.

Professor Kong has been actively involved in the promotion of CT and coding education. Apart from setting up the Coding Education Unit at EdUHK in 2015, he also took part in an initiative with the Hong Kong Catholic Education Office to launch three sets of teaching materials, integrating CT into English language, mathematics, and general studies curricula in 2020.

Professor Abelson, renowned computer scientist and Class of 1922 Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States, is a pioneer in popularising CT around the world. He has been a member of the expert group of a project aiming to integrate CT education into primary schools in Hong Kong.