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Fluency with Information Technology
CSE100/INFO100, Spring 2001

CSE100/IMT100 is an introductory class implementing the recommendations of the National Research Council’s study Being Fluent With Information Technology [National Academy Press, 1999]. The report describes the knowledge and experience a person should possess to be fluent in information technology, where fluency is a more ambitious goal than computer literacy.

Literacy vs Fluency Computer literacy has traditionally meant proficiency with a few contemporary computer applications such as email, word processing and the like. Though such literacy instruction enables students to use computers directly, it does not have the staying power needed to accommodate the rapid changes in Information Technology. To use computers effectively over time, people must become lifelong learners, continually expanding their knowledge and upgrading their skills. The NRC report adopts the term "fluency" for this more fundamental understanding of IT. The term connotes the ability to synthesize, to express oneself creatively, and to manipulate the medium to achieve one’s goals.

Components of Fluency The NRC report identifies three types of knowledge that are essential for fluency:

• Skills – competence with contemporary computer applications and tools; this component approximates traditional computer literacy. An example is learning a word processor.
• Concepts – fundamental principles on which information technology is founded, including basic ideas related to computers, networks, etc. An example is understanding the digital representation of information.
• Capabilities -- the ability to apply information technology in complex and sustained situations, which encapsulate higher level thinking in the context of information technology. An example is managing complexity.

The report lists the 10 top priority items of each type of knowledge. Notice that the three types of knowledge are co-equal and interdependent.

Project Learning Though skills have been successfully taught in conventional literacy courses, and concepts have been taught in standard computer science and information systems classes for years, the capabilities present an instructional challenge. In order to teach the capabilities, to provide a context to learn the concepts, and to facilitate the acquisition of skills, Fluency With Information Technology is a project-based course. The main content is delivered through the formulation and implementation of sustained (multiweek) projects using information technology.

 

 

 

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 Last Updated:
March 26, 2001

Contact the instructor at: snyder@cs.washington.edu