Fluency with Information Technology : Skills, Concepts, and Capabilities

Fluency with Information Technology: Skills, Concepts, and Capabilitiesequips readers who are already familiar with computers, the Internet, and the World Wide Web with a deeper understanding of the broad capabilities of technology. Through a project-oriented learning approach that uses examples and realistic problem-solving scenarios, Larry Snyder teaches readers to navigate information technology independently and become effective users of today's resources, forming a foundation of skills they can adapt to their personal and career goals as future technologies emerge.

Larry Snyder was the chairman of the National Research Council's (NRC) committee that issued the report, "Being Fluent with Information Technology." It is this NRC committee funded by the National Science Foundation that identified the three types of knowledge needed in Fluency. Larry received his BA in 1968 from the University of Iowa and his Ph.D. in 1973 at Carnegie Mellon. He taught at schools such as Yale, MIT, Harvard, and Syndey University before settling down at the University of Washington in 1983, where he is currently a professor of computer science and engineering.

Part 1 Becoming Skilled at Computing
Chapter 1 Defining Information Technology
Terms of Endearment

Hardware, Software, and the Experience

Computers Are Everywhere

Software

Experience

The Data

Summary

Terms of Endearment

Algorithms
The Words for Ideas
Summary
Try It Solutions
Review Questions

Chapter 2 Exploring the Human-Computer Interface
Face It, It’s a Computer
A Few Useful Concepts

Perfect Reproduction

How We Learn Technology
Summary
Try It Solutions
Review Questions

Chapter 3 The Basics of Networking
Making the Connection
Comparing Communication Types
The Medium of the Message
The World Wide Web

The Internet and the Web
Summary
Try It Solutions
Review Questions

Chapter 4 A Hypertext Markup Language Primer
Marking Up with HTML
Marking Up with HTML
Lab Practice I
Structuring Documents
Lab Practice II
Marking Links with Anchor Tags
Including Pictures with Image Tags
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

Lists and Tables
HTML Wrap-Up
Summary
Try It Solutions
Review Questions

Chapter 5 Locating Information on the WWW
The Search for Truth

Web Search Fundamentals

Advanced Searches

Web Searching

Authoritative Information

Truth or Fiction?
Summary
Try It Solutions
Review Questions

Chapter 6 An Introduction to Debugging
To Err Is Human
Precision: The High Standards of Computing
Debugging: What’s the Problem?
A Dialog About Debugging
Debugging Recap
Fixing HTML Bugs: A Case Study
No Printer Output: A Classic Scenario
Ensuring the Reliability of Software
Community Debugging
Summary
Try It Solutions
Review Questions
Interview Vinton G. Cerf

Part 2 Algorithms and Digitizing Information
Chapter 7 Representing Information Digitally
Bits and the “Why” of Bytes
Digitizing Discrete Information
Fundamental Information Representation
Hex Explained

Digitizing Numbers in Binary
Digitizing Text

The Metadata and the OED
Summary
Try It Solutions
Review Questions

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Chapter 8 Representing Multimedia Digitally
Light, Sound, Magic
Digitizing Color

Color and the Mystery of Light
Computing on Representations

Old Photographs
Digitizing Sound
Digital Images and Video
Optical Character Recognition
Virtual Reality: Fooling the Senses
Bits Are It
Summary
Try It Solutions
Review Questions

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Chapter 9 Principles of Computer Operations
Following Instructions
What Computers Can and Cannot Do
The Fetch/Execute Cycle
Anatomy of a Computer
The Program Counter: The PC’s PC
Instruction Interpretation
Cycling the Fetch/Execute Cycle
Software
Integrated Circuits
How Semiconductor Technology Works
Combining the Ideas
Summary
Try It Solutions
Review Questions

Chapter 10 Algorithmic Thinking
What's the Plan?
Inside Story on Algorithms

Algorithms–A Basic Concept

A Closer Look

Doing the Right Thing
Summary
Try It Solutions
Review Questions

Interview Ray Kurzweil

Part 3 Data and Information
Chapter 11 Social Implications of IT
Computers in Polite Society
The Power of the Crowd
Out on Good Behavior
Expect the Unexpected
Creating Good Passwords
Spam
Scams
Protecting Intellectual Property
Creative Commons
Summary
Try It Solutions
Review Questions

Chapter 12 Privacy and Digital Security
Shhh, It's a Secret
Privacy: Whose Information Is It?
A Privacy Definition
Enjoying the Benefits of Privacy
Fair Information Practices
Comparing Privacy Worldwide
The Cookie Monster
Tracking

Digital Security

Plan of Action

Encryption

The Take-Home Message

Back to the Coffee Shop
Redundancy Is Very, Very, Very Good
Summary
Try It Solutions
Review Questions

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Chapter 13 The Basics of Spreadsheets
Fill-in-the-Blank Computing
Arranging Information
Computing with Spreadsheets
Daily Spreadsheets
Importing Data
Summary
Try It Solutions
Review Questions

Chapter 14 Advanced Spreadsheets for Planning
"What If” Thinking Helps
Designing a Spreadsheet
Conditional Formatting
Conditional Formulas
Naming: Symbolic Reference
“What If” Analysis
Analyzing Data Using Filtering
Summary
Try It Solutions
Review Questions

Chapter 15 Introduction to Database Concepts
A Table with a View
Differences Between Tables and Databases
XML: A Language for Metadata Tags
Tables and Entities
Operations on Tables
Structure of a Database
Summary
Try It Solutions
Review Questions

Chapter 16 A Case Study in Database Organization
The iDiary Database
Thinking About a Personal Database
A Preliminary Exercise
The iDiary Database
Using the iDiary Daily
Summary
Try It Solutions
Review Questions
Interview Alan Kay

Part 4 Problem Solving
Chapter 17 Fundamental Concepts Expressed in JavaScript
Get with the Program
Overview: Programming Concepts
Names, Values, and Variables
Names Have Changing Values
Names in a Program Are Called Variables
A Variable Declaration Statement
Three Basic Data Types of JavaScript
The Assignment Statement
An Expression and Its Syntax
A Conditional Statement
The Espresso Program
Summary
Try It Solutions
Review Questions

Chapter 18 A JavaScript Program
The Bean Counter
Preliminaries
Background for the GUI
Creating the Graphical User Interface
Event-Based Programming
Critiquing the Bean Counter
Bean Counter Recap
Summary
Try It Solutions
Review Questions

Chapter 19 Programming Functions
Thinking Big
Anatomy of a Function
Forms and Functions
Writing Functions, Using Functions
The Memory Bank Web Page
Improving the Memory Bank Web Page
Add Final Touches to Memory Bank
Summary
Try It Solutions
Review Questions

Chapter 20 Iteration Principles
Once Is Not Enough
Iteration: Play It Again, Sam
JavaScript Rules for for Loops
Experiments with Flipping Coins
Indexing
Arrays
The Busy Animation
Summary
Try It Solutions
Review Questions

Chapter 21 A Case Study in Algorithmic Problem Solving
The Smooth Motion Application
The Smooth Motion Application
Planning Smooth Motion
Build the Basic Web Page GUI
Animate the Grid
The Best Laid Plans . . .
Build Controls
Sense the Keys
Staircase Detection
Assemble Overall Design
Primp the Design
Summary
Try It Solutions
Review Questions

Chapter 22 Limits to Computation
Computers Can Do Almost {qEverything, qNothing}
Can Computers Think?
Acting Intelligently?

Playing Chess

Watson
Acting Creatively?
The Universality Principle
More Work, Slower Speed
Are “Best” Algorithms All Fast?
Summary
Try It Solutions
Review Questions

Chapter 23 A Fluency Summary
Click to Close
Two Big IT Ideas
Fluency: Less Is More
Lifelong IT Learning
Shifting for Yourself
Try It Solutions
Review Questions
Interview Marc Andreessen

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Appendix A HTML Reference
Appendix B RSA Public Key Cryptosystem
Appendix C iDiary: Tags and Templates
Appendix D JavaScript Programming Rules
Appendix E Bean Counter Program
Appendix F The Memory Bank Page
Appendix G The Smooth Motion Application
Glossary
Answers to Selected Questions
Index
Credits