Teaching Computing with Purpose: Remote Community Partnerships as Scalable Pedagogy

This lightning talk presents a scalable, remote model for integrating community partnerships into computing education. Beginning in early 2026, students in an upper-level capstone course will document and analyze historic sites through collaboration with community partners, using computing tools to connect technical skill-building with social and cultural awareness. Students apply Python programming, GIS mapping, and data science techniques to real datasets while learning to communicate insights, visualize information, and address ethical considerations in community data work. This approach demonstrates how computing instruction can extend beyond classroom exercises to create meaningful, interdisciplinary learning experiences. By working remotely with community collaborators, students explore how data visualization, storytelling, and teamwork can bridge technical computing skills with the digital humanities and civic responsibility. The remote structure reduces financial and logistical barriers to field engagement, making the model adaptable for a wide range of institutions and communities. Future work will refine strategies for remote student–community collaboration, develop interactive web-based tools for data sharing, and formalize curricular modules that integrate computing with digital heritage and public-interest data science. Attendees will leave with concrete ideas for designing remote partnerships, scaffolding interdisciplinary digital-humanities projects, and incorporating community-driven data into computing curricula. The presenter welcomes feedback and collaboration from educators interested in extending this work to additional communities or curricular contexts.