FIT 100 Fluency with Information Technology

Syllabus — Course Overview

Fluency with Information Technology involves three types of knowledge, each equally important for reinforcing a deeper understanding of IT and its uses. Upon completion of this course, you will have acquired and honed these three types: skills, concepts, and capabilities.

Skills

Gain contemporary and immediately applicable skills. Become technically literate. Learn how to:
  • Browse the Web with Internet Explorer, Safari, or Firefox
  • Create and publish Web pages
  • Transfer files with FTP
  • Effectively use search engines
  • Determine authenticity of Web sites
  • Program with JavaScript
  • Build a spreadsheet
  • Build a database
  • Understand database and online privacy issues
  • Protect your computer from security threats

Concepts

Reach an essential understanding of the foundations on which IT is built that goes beyond technical literacy. Learn about critical areas of IT, such as:
  • Computers
  • Information systems
  • Networks
  • Modeling and abstraction
  • Algorithmic thinking
  • Digital representations, such as MP3, ASCII, and JPG
  • Limitations and societal impacts of technology

Capabilities

Learn to apply information technology in complex situations and understand the consequences. Develop the capabilities to:
  • Manage complexity
  • Test solutions
  • Anticipate changes in technology
  • Think about IT abstractly

Technology evolves so rapidly that current skills become obsolete over shorter and shorter time spans. Successful completion of this course will give you an understanding of IT capabilities and concepts that will allow you to keep pace with inevitable advances in IT.