Discover IT Topics Covered What is it like to be an Information Technology (IT) professional? This course will show you: What IT professional actually do. What it is like to write a program. How to build and publish a basic web page. The traits you need to be a programmer. How to think like a programmer. Course Details High School South Central College Course Title Discover IT COMP1120 - Foundations of Computing Credits 2 high school semester credit 4 SCC credits Description Prerequisite: Format: Weekly work time: This course will help you discover the field of Information Technology (IT). The learning activities and project work emphasize time management, problem solving, and professional communications. None Online http://www.socratesonline.org/ 15-20 hours (approximate) Required Hardware: A Windows, Macintosh, or Chromebook computer. Most students prefer to bring in their own laptop, using the college computers to view labs and file specs. This allows you to set up and maintain your own programming environment. A Windows or Macintosh laptop is preferred over the use of a Chromebook so the student can work in a professional development environment. Several skills and techniques covered in this course cannot be done on a Chromebook. At least one flash drive to store your work. Earbuds - There are a lot of videos in this course. Keep a set of earbuds with you so you don't miss out.
Required Software: Chromebook: The text editor Caret. Windows: NotePad++. Macintosh: Text Wrangler. Google Chrome browser. Available at https://www.google.com/chrome? brand=ecwe&installdataindex=google-ntp. This is an open-source browser with many excellent extensions that will make your programming much easier. Students must have access to the web at home for the entire course. Textbook Optional Interactive Textbook: Computing Technology for All. Course Goals 1. Discover the excitement of IT. Technology is everywhere. This course will help you discover your interests, skills, and values to help you determine career choices. You'll learn how information technology is a critical component with almost every career choice. 2. Solve problems. Learning how to communicate complex ideas and how to break down problems into logical pieces. 3. Communicate as a professional. Speaking with precision, writing in a professional manner, and being able to listen. 4. Demonstrate successful time management. Complete projects early or on time-based on client specifications. 5. Improve your typing speed by 50% or more by the end of the course. Student Learning Outcomes What is IT? Examine the role of Information Technology in an organization. Explore the history of computing.* Identify turning-point events in the technology era.* Describe the organization of an Information Technology department.* Explore, categorize, and assess career options available to the IT professional.* Describe various hardware platforms and technologies used throughout an organization.* Discuss enterprise computing.* Explore the use of emerging technologies in business.* List various software categories found in an organization. (decision support, enterprise resource planning (ERP), content management systems (CMS), Customer Relationship Management (CRM).* Differentiate between operating systems and applications software.* Explore various hardware platforms used in an organization. (Operating systems, hardware networks, computing systems such as mainframe, mid-range, network, and cloud-based) Discuss issues of software licenses and open source software.*
Analyze key IT technologies and how they changed our lives. Determine your personal career choices based on your interests and skills. File Management Leverage file management techniques and explore various hardware platforms. Utilize both GUI (Graphical User Interface) and CLI (Command Line Interface).* Create a folder structure using the hierarchical file management system. (File Explorer in Windows and Finder in Mac)* Copy, move, delete, and rename files and folders.* Write PATH statements to access files anywhere on the file system. Explain why files have extensions and how they are used. Why don't folders have extensions? Compress and uncompress files. The Internet Explain the concepts of networking, the internet, and the web. List and describe the basic networking concepts.* Describe and contrast the concepts of the internet and the web.* Investigate standard concepts associated with the internet, security, and the web* Build A Web Page and Explore Ethics in Programming Create and style your own web pages using HTML. Create and use folders and files correctly. Create a web page using the essential HTML elements in the correct order. Establish a workflow using a standard text editor and a browser using hotkeys. Incorporate images, lists, and links on a web page. Explain the differences between copyright and creative commons licensing. Use the CSS Use CSS to style a web page. Use hex and rgb color codes with CSS for exact color matches. Specify font sizes and set up a font stack for multiple font options. Add borders, padding, and margins around objects on the page. Use <div> and <span> elements appropriately. Use the id=" " and class=" " attributes appropriately. Demonstrate the use of an external CSS file, embedded CSS, and in-line CSS. Secret Codes Understand different numbering systems and why they are useful. Explain the binary representation of data in ASCII.* Perform conversion between numbering systems (binary, decimal, and hexadecimal numbers).* Analyze why a specific numbering system is used in different circumstances (For example, inside a computer, specifying a color on a web page, calculating your grade.)
How Computers Work Using a software simulator, watch how the computer "thinks" using registers and memory and ones and zeros. Discuss why algorithms are useful in problem-solving.* List the recommended steps used to solve a problem.* Create algorithms for solving simple problems.* Analyze an algorithm's correctness and efficiency.* Illustrate the architecture of a computer.* Create a flowchart showing the process a program follows. Differentiate between high-level languages and machine language.* Write a machine language program and execute it on a simple simulator.* Utilize the different components of a computer (CPU, Program Counter, Registers, Program Memory, Data Memory) Write an assembly program that outputs English results to the user. Write an assembly program that utilizes basic math as well as a conditional jump. JavaScript and Algorithms Add interaction on your web page using a JavaScript. Visualize and design programs, using algorithms. Explain the use of variables, data types, expressions, and the assignment operator.* List the primary conditional and iterative control structures.* Choose appropriate programming constructs for a given task.* Write and test a program that implements a simple algorithm.* Write and run a JavaScript function. Pass parameters from one function to another. Return information back to a calling function. Write a JavaScript function that collects information from the user. Write a JavaScript function that performs a calculation. Write a JavaScript function that displays information on a web page. Event-Driven Programming Employ event-driven programming techniques. Explain the concept of event-driven programming.* Identify which programming languages in common use today support events.* Write and test a simple program that reacts to simple user-generated events.* Java Write a program using a compiled language such as Java. Write, compile, and run a Java program. Import external libraries into your program. Write a Java program that collects information from the user. Write a Java program that utilizes an if/else conditional statement. Write a Java program that utilizes a switch statement. Using Linux - CLI Apply file management principles on a Unix-like system, manipulating file and folder structures.
Copy files using the copy (cp) command.* Move and rename files using the move (mv) command.* Remove files using the remove (rm) command.* Create and remove directories using common Linux utility programs and shell commands.* View and manipulate the attributes of files and directories.* Connect to and work with files on a Linux-based server using various utilities.* Use editors to create and edit standard Linux data files.* PHP Explore server-side programming using the popular programming language, PHP. Summarize the evolution of programming languages.* Identify distinguishing characteristics of those programming languages in common use today.* Compare the advantages and disadvantages of the main programming paradigms (procedural, objectoriented, function).* Install a LAMP stack such as AMPPS. Write a simple program using PHP that gives feedback to the user. Modify a set of web pages to utilize PHP server side includes. Write a PHP program that utilizes an if/else conditional statement Write a PHP program that stores data in an array. Write a PHP program that displays the contents of an array using a for loop. Analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the different types of languages (assembly, procedural, object-oriented, declarative). Databases Create your own database to store information. Then, write a program to extract and display the data. Ethics Discuss the hierarchy of data.* Compare database management systems.* Describe the use of data warehouses and data mining in the organization.* Design a database table including at least three fields and an auto-incrementing key field Demonstrate the reason for 1NF in database design. Use a GUI such as phpmyadmin or Adminer to create, inspect, and maintain data. Write an SQL statement to extract specific records from a table. Write a PHP program that extracts and displays data from a database. Compare various database systems (Excel, DBMS, MongoDB, JSON) giving the strengths of each. Describe the use of data warehouses and data mining in an organization. Explore ethical issues in computing. Discuss issues related to data privacy.* Explain methods to protect against identify and information theft.* Discuss issues related to computer crime.* Your Future What have you learned? What is next?
Compare your current skill set with the skills you had at the beginning of the course. Rank the topics in the class listing the top three that you enjoyed the most. Research and describe three careers that would utilize the areas you enjoy. Create a 5-step plan outlining the skills you will need for your top career choice. * Items included in the South Central College syllabus for concurrent credit. Course Design This content in this course consists of multiple modules. Each module consists of two parts: (1) Learning Activities - Do these first to learn the material. These include tutorials, practice code sessions, self-quizzes, and videos. (2) Assessment Activities are designed so you can demonstrate how well you have learned the material. These consist of projects, grade quizzes, and other assessments. Working on the projects before doing the learning activities is like describing a book before you've read it, or playing a sport before you learn the rules. Learn the material first and then do the project work. Is it smart to look over the project before you start the Learning Activities? Absolutely. It will give your brain a roadmap and a reason why as you do the Learning Activities. Grading Scale 94-100% 90-93% 87-89% 83-86% 80-82% 77-79% 73-76% 70-72% 67-69% 63-66% 60-66% 59% and below A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D+ D D- F The grading for this course is performance-based. You will not be graded a curve. This means that your grade is based on the work you do and not on what grade others in the class receive. As your instructor, I am the record-keeper of your points. I do not give you a grade. I only keep track of the points each student has earned based on how well you accomplished specific tasks. Student Expectations Be responsible for your own actions. Actions (as well as inactions) will always give you specific results. For example, if you don't turn in projects or you skip several quizzes, the specific results will be a lower grade. Don't expect different results from your own inactions. You are responsible for your own actions. Not the instructor, or administration, or your other classmates or your friends. It all comes down to what you decide to do or not do and what results you want. 1. You must have access. It is expected that you have a working computer at home and are connected to the Internet. Do not try to take this course without these two important tools. All of the material is located online on the LMS (Learning Management System) and not having access to the web is like driving a car without wheels. 2. Do the work. It is expected that you have done all of the Learning Activities for the week including the self-quizzes. Do these before you attempt to complete the project work!
It is expected that some work will be done outside of class. Treat the learning activities as you would any other homework. 3. Meet deadlines. For Projects - Build on the bonus points by turning in projects early. There is also a 48-hour window (with a 20% penalty) after the due date. After that, no projects are accepted. For Quizzes - You have one week to take each graded quiz. Miss that huge window of opportunity and you have lost out on those points. Due to the time-relationship between the self-quizzes (as learning activities) and the graded-quizzes (as assessment activities) there will be no graded quizzes allowed after the established deadline. Bonus Points for Early Submission - No late projects, papers, or quizzes will be accepted unless you have made prior arrangements in writing with the instructor and have a valid and documented reason. The instructor may offer an early submission bonus on some projects. Take advantage of these whenever you can. There will be no makeup or 'extra credit' opportunities at the end of the semester. 4. Understand that learning is moving out of your comfort zone. Learning is about change and change means being willing to move out of your comfort level into new areas you haven't explored before. 5. Communicate as a professional. Always write using proper grammar and spelling. In the professional world, you are judged by all your written communications. Address people using either their title and last name (Professor Smith, Ms. Boyd, Mr. Martinez) or by their first name. Please save the "Hey" salutations for your buddies and friends. It is not considered appropriate for business communications. 6. Stay connected. Have all your school emails forwarded to your personal email address and check your email at least once each day. Have notifications turned on for Slack so you know when the instructor has posted a message to the class or to you personally. Your College Transcript If you are taking this as a concurrent college course you are building your college transcript. Your transcript will follow you for many years and is often a critical factor used in hiring decisions. Concurrent credit also has the added responsibility of meeting the college's standards. As a concurrent course, this is the same as taking a class on campus. The college student handbook is included as part of the course materials on the LMS (Learning Management System).
Course Schedule (subject to change) Academic Dishonesty Policy It is important that students are held to standards that uphold concepts of academic honor, integrity, and honesty. That is the best way to ensure that learning can effectively take place in this, or any, course. South Central College has crafted the following policy: Academic Dishonesty includes misconduct associated with the classroom, laboratory or clinical learning process. Some examples of academic misconduct are cheating and plagiarism. Cheating includes, but is not limited to: a. Use of any unauthorized assistance in taking quizzes, tests or examinations b. Dependence upon the aid of sources beyond those authorized by the instructor in writing papers, preparing reports, solving problems or carrying out other assignments or, c. The acquisition, without permission, of tests or other academic material belonging to a member of the college faculty or staff. Plagiarism is intellectual theft and includes, but is not limited to, the undocumented use of information paraphrase or direct quotation from the published or unpublished work of another person or source;
plagiarism also includes using papers/writings from an agency engaged in the selling of term papers or other academic materials. Academic Dishonesty will not be tolerated in this course. For more information about the penalties involved in a violation of this policy, please consult the Student Handbook. South Central College Accessibility Statement South Central College strives to make all learning experiences as accessible as possible. If you have a" disability and need accommodations for access to this class, contact the Academic Support Center to" request and discuss accommodations. North Mankato: Room B-132, 507-389-7222 Faribault: Room A-116, 507-332-7222. Additional information and forms can be found at: www.southcentral.edu/disability. This material can be made available in alternative formats by contacting the Academic Support Center at" 507-"389-7222. Your Instructor Peter K. Johnson - pjohnson@mnscsc.org Website: http://peterkjohnson.com Mobile: 507 317-3572 Office Hours: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday-Fri day via Slack. Other meetings by request. Revised: 01-05-18