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Big Idea 5: Impact of Computing

6 dot points across 6 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How can a single computing innovation produce both beneficial and harmful effects, often unintended?

Topic 5.1 Beneficial and Harmful Effects: computing innovations have both beneficial and harmful effects on society, economy and culture, and effects may be intended or unintended.
A focused answer to AP CSP Topic 5.1, covering how a single computing innovation can have both beneficial and harmful effects, intended versus unintended consequences, effects on individuals and society, and how to analyze an innovation's impact for the exam.
9 min answer →

How does bias get into computing systems, and how can it be reduced?

Topic 5.3 Computing Bias: computing innovations can reflect existing human biases through biased data or design choices, and bias can be embedded intentionally or unintentionally.
A focused answer to AP CSP Topic 5.3, covering how bias enters computing systems through biased data and design, intentional versus unintentional bias, real effects on people, why biased data produces biased outputs, and how bias can be identified and reduced.
9 min answer →

How does crowdsourcing harness many people through computing to solve problems and gather data?

Topic 5.4 Crowdsourcing: crowdsourcing uses the input of a large number of people, often via the Internet, to obtain ideas, services, content, funding or data.
A focused answer to AP CSP Topic 5.4, covering what crowdsourcing is, how the Internet enables it, examples (knowledge, funding, citizen science, mapping), the benefits of scale and diverse input, the risks of quality and reliability, and how it relates to other impacts.
8 min answer →

What legal and ethical responsibilities come with creating and using computing innovations, including intellectual property and privacy?

Topic 5.5 Legal and Ethical Concerns: computing raises legal and ethical issues including intellectual property, licensing, plagiarism, privacy and the responsible use and sharing of material and data.
A focused answer to AP CSP Topic 5.5, covering intellectual property and copyright, open-source and Creative Commons licensing, plagiarism, the ethics of using others' work, privacy of personal data, and the legal and ethical responsibilities of creators and users.
9 min answer →

How do we protect personal data and stay safe online against threats like malware and phishing?

Topic 5.6 Safe Computing: personal data is collected and stored by computing systems, and safe computing uses authentication, encryption and awareness of threats such as malware and phishing to protect it.
A focused answer to AP CSP Topic 5.6, covering how personal data is collected and tracked, privacy risks, authentication and strong passwords, multi-factor authentication, encryption (symmetric and public key), and common threats such as malware and phishing, with practical safeguards.
10 min answer →

Who has access to computing and the Internet, and how does unequal access affect opportunity?

Topic 5.2 The Digital Divide: the digital divide is the unequal access to computing devices and the Internet across groups, shaped by socioeconomic, geographic and demographic factors.
A focused answer to AP CSP Topic 5.2, covering what the digital divide is, the socioeconomic, geographic and demographic factors behind it, its effects on opportunity and equity, the difference between access and skills, and efforts to close it.
9 min answer →