Tangibles and Computing Education: A View from the History of Computing

All sorts of objects embody ideas about data and computation through their creation, their application and impact. ‘Old’ objects also embody histories that are composed of period, location, use, ownership, etc. We explore the nature of historical artefacts and what role they might play in computing education. We argue that encounters with historical artefacts bring students closer to fundamental ideas, themes and issues in both technical and social aspects of computing.