September 21, 1999
First-of-its-kind information fluency course prepares students to roll with punches in rapidly changing world of information technology
It’s an hour before a major presentation and your computer isn’t cooperating. The work is done, but the documents won’t print. Would you know what steps to take to fix the problem in time to save your job?
Or suppose you’re trying to meet a deadline and need information from a Web site. When you try the address you’ve been given, you discover that there’s no such page. Would you have the cyber smarts to find the correct address on your own?
A large portion of the computer-using population wouldn’t, according to Larry Snyder, professor of computer science at the University of Washington and chairman of a national committee that recently studied the issue. That’s worrisome in an age that increasingly turns on information know-how, Snyder said. This fall, he hopes to begin to help change that with a new undergraduate class – apparently the first of its kind in the nation – that targets non-experts to increase their fluency in information technology.
“Most people who use computers have the skills to be able to work various applications, such as word processing and e-mail, or to be able to use the Web,” Snyder said. “What they generally lack is a real understanding of the deeper concepts beyond that, which would give them the ability to cope when things go wrong and to adapt as the technology changes rapidly, which it will continue to do.”
The class, CSE 100, implements the message of a 112-page report issued by a National Research Council committee. The council was asked by the National Science Foundation to explore the question of what people should know in order to participate in the information age in a meaningful way. Three key areas listed by Snyder’s committee are:
? Skills, or the ability to use today’s computer applications.
? An understanding of the basic concepts behind computers, networks and information that underpin the technology.
? The capability to apply information technology in complex situations and manipulate it to achieve their goals.
For most people, the skills area is their strongest, according to Snyder. That’s what people usually mean when they talk about computer literacy. But that’s also the area that changes as technologies change. Concepts and capabilities, on the other hand, don’t change with time so people fluent in the second two categories can troubleshoot when something goes wrong and adapt for tomorrow’s skills.
Snyder taught a pilot for the course last spring and student feedback was positive, he said, adding that it doesn’t look like he will have trouble filling the first official offering in a couple weeks, a joint venture by the departments of computer science and engineering and library information science. “I’m getting quite a bit of e-mail from students asking when it’s being offered, trying to fit it into their schedules.”
And there are ongoing talks about expanding the course to the K-12 system at several area locations. Snyder said he’s excited about those possibilities – students should be firmly grounded in information fluency before they get to college.
“The computer science people traditionally study the more fundamental content of fluency, but that’s where it stops and it’s something everyone needs today,” Snyder said. “A class like this just isn’t being offered anywhere else in the country – yet.”
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For more information, contact Snyder at (206) 543-9265, 543-1695 or at snyder@cs.washington.edu.
