Course Statement: You are the last generation of college students that will be able to remember a time before the Internet (if just barely). I literally went to college with a typewriter and left with a computer (although it was an early gasoline-powered model). Imagine what your future children might be taking for granted when they are in college.
No one would deny that computers have changed the world. The technology is everywhere. But technology is meaningless without considering its human impact. How is communication technology impacting individuals, society and culture?
In examining these issues, the best place to start is your own life, and those of people you know. From here, begin to look beyond to your community, and the larger world. How have things changed? How are they going to change yet?
In this course, you will learn the history of the information age, and, much more significantly, how to apply critical thinking skills by formulating good questions about the information age, and answering these questions, and evaluating various forms of information age content. Students are asked to complete multiple in-class and out-of-class writing assignments, including a research paper. Students are encouraged to perform research using various on-line resources and electronic databases.
This is not a computer science class. In fact, students with a strong interest in computers usually get less out of this class! Having said this, regular computer use will be required to pass the course. But the class is about people.
What does it mean to the individual – and to society – to be living in the information age? Let’s explore this issue as a group.
No one would deny that computers have changed the world. The technology is everywhere. But technology is meaningless without considering its human impact. How is communication technology impacting individuals, society and culture?
In examining these issues, the best place to start is your own life, and those of people you know. From here, begin to look beyond to your community, and the larger world. How have things changed? How are they going to change yet?
In this course, you will learn the history of the information age, and, much more significantly, how to apply critical thinking skills by formulating good questions about the information age, and answering these questions, and evaluating various forms of information age content. Students are asked to complete multiple in-class and out-of-class writing assignments, including a research paper. Students are encouraged to perform research using various on-line resources and electronic databases.
This is not a computer science class. In fact, students with a strong interest in computers usually get less out of this class! Having said this, regular computer use will be required to pass the course. But the class is about people.
What does it mean to the individual – and to society – to be living in the information age? Let’s explore this issue as a group.