The convergence of computer and communication technologies has brought into being a "wired world" in which it may be easier and faster to access information stored hundreds or thousands of miles away than it is to ask a person a neighboring office or look it up in a book on one's own bookshelf. With every passing year we become more and more dependent on computers, whether we are aware of it or not.
There are three major questions concerning computer-based systems which every educated person in the twenty-first century should have some understanding of: what computer systems can do; what computer systems can do but shouldn't do; and what computer systems cannot do. That is, every person needs some familiarity with using computer-based systems as a skill, with the social implications of computers and computer networks, and with the ultimate capabilities and limitations of computing. Virtually every profession currently makes extensive use of computer technology, and this is expected to increase further in coming years. Intelligent use of any technology demands that one know both when to rely on the technology and when not to do so. Hopefully, this course will help you to be better able to make such judgments.
The course is intended to approach the technology in two distinct ways. First, through this course you will gain (or demonstrate prior) familiarity with the use of computers and the Internet for communication and accessing information. The segment of the course dealing with these skills is designed to allow for the fact that various individuals may possess differing abilities in the use of computers upon arrival in this course. If you are already very proficient in the use of computers and the Internet you may work very independently to demonstrate those abilities. If you have never used a computer before, fear not because you will receive lots of help in class and through assigned work to become proficient in the use of the computer.
While developing computer and Internet skills are goals of this of this course, they are not the main focus of the course. We will devote most of our class meeting time to the discussion of some computer-related issues facing society today. Issues to be discussed will include historical, theoretical, and practical perspectives from computer science. This aspect of the course is not intended to be an addendum to the skill development; rather, this is the main goal of the course.
Upon completion of this course, you should be aware of the many ways in which computers may be used to simplify and improve the quality of life. In addition, you will be more keenly aware of the dangers that the computer, if misused, represents to society. In this way you will have developed a degree of computer literacy which will enable you to make responsible, informed decisions in the future.
Upon completion of this course you should: