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Impacts of Computing

Eighth graders examine how computing shapes society — weighing its powerful benefits (communication, medicine, access) against real concerns (privacy, misinformation, the digital divide) — to think critically about technology’s role.

Grade 8Computing & Society50 minutes1 class periodUse → Modify → CreateExplicit teaching4 StandardsCSTA
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Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Explain computing’s impacts.
  • ✓Tell benefits from concerns.
  • ✓Think critically.
  • ✓Weigh trade-offs.
Essential Question

Computing has changed the world in amazing ways — and created new problems, too. How do we weigh the benefits and concerns of technology?

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Lesson Phases
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Vocabulary Terms
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Standards Aligned
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Interactive Task
Sort It · Interactive

Benefit or Concern?

Project this and sort each impact of computing into a benefit or a concern.

🌍 Sort each impact — benefit or concern?Try it
👍 Benefit
⚠️ Concern
Tap an impact, then tap a bucket.
The Lesson · Use → Modify → Create (a coding progression with Unplugged practice)

50 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Hook — Amazing and Complicated

5 min

Computing changed the world — for better and worse. How do we weigh it?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • List tech impacts.
  • Ask good vs. bad.
  • Set the goal.

🎒 Student Actions

  • List them.
  • Consider.
  • Predict.
2

Unplugged — Unplug It

11 min

Students practice.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Debate an impact.
  • Note both sides.
  • Feel the trade-off.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Debate.
  • Note it.
  • Feel it.
3

Use — Benefit or Concern

15 min

Students use.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send students to Benefit or Concern?
  • Sort each one.
  • Explain them.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Sort.
  • Explain.
  • Check.
4

Modify — Weigh It

14 min

Students modify.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Pick an impact and weigh it.
  • Suggest a solution to a concern.
  • Explain your view.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Weigh it.
  • Suggest it.
  • Explain.
5

Create — Create

5 min

Students conclude.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Name a benefit and a concern.
  • Explain a trade-off.
  • Complete the exit ticket.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name them.
  • Explain it.
  • Complete the exit ticket.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to the CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards and ISTE Standards for Students.

CSTA
2-IC-20

Compare tradeoffs of computing technologies.

CSTA
2-IC-21

Discuss privacy and ethical issues.

CSTA
2-IC-23

Describe impacts of computing on society.

ISTE
2

Digital Citizen.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Impact cards.
  • Sentence frame: “This is a ___ because ___.”
  • Discuss examples.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Start with clear examples.
  • Sort one at a time.
  • Use pictures.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Research a real impact.
  • Propose a solution.
  • Debate a trade-off.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Projector / board
  • 🌍Impact cards
  • 💻Benefit or Concern?
  • 📰News articles
  • ✏️Pens
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

impactan effect on societybenefita positive impactconcerna possible problemprivacykeeping data safemisinformationfalse informationdigital divideunequal access to techtrade-offa balance of pros and consethicsideas of right and wrong
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
Name a benefit of computing.
Sample: instant communication, access to information, medical tech, or easier work.
QUESTION 2
Name a concern about computing.
Sample: privacy risks, misinformation, screen-time effects, or the digital divide.
QUESTION 3
What is the “digital divide”?
The unequal access some people have to computers and the internet.

Create: weigh a trade-off.

Have students pick one technology and describe one benefit and one concern it brings. A printable impacts sheet is in the Computer Science library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 Impacts of ComputingFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
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Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 Impacts of ComputingQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
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Nice work!

Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ Impacts of ComputingPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: benefit, concern, digital divide, ethics, impact, misinformation, privacy, trade-off
  1. keeping data safe
  2. ideas of right and wrong
  3. an effect on society
  4. a positive impact
  5. unequal access to tech
  6. a possible problem
  7. false information
  8. a balance of pros and cons

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. Name a benefit of computing.
  2. Name a concern about computing.
  3. What is the “digital divide”?
Answer key — Part A: 1) privacy · 2) ethics · 3) impact · 4) benefit · 5) digital divide · 6) concern · 7) misinformation · 8) trade-off
Part B: 1) Sample: instant communication, access to information, medical tech, or easier work. 2) Sample: privacy risks, misinformation, screen-time effects, or the digital divide. 3) The unequal access some people have to computers and the internet.