Winter 2000 - Computer Engineering 003

Personal Computer Concepts: Software and Hardware

Assignments Page

Lectures: Tu and Th, 06:00 to 07:45, Applied Sciences Room 152.

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Reading Assignments

Tentative reading assignments are listed below for each week. Completion of the reading should be by the indicated Tuesday.

Should the schedule need to be changed, a notice will be put on the class anouncements page.

All pages refer to the required class textbook.

The text includes several types of focus boxes which are described in page xxii of the introduction. Only the following types of focus boxes are required reading: "User's View", "Rules of Thumb" (sorry for the poor choice of words). The other focus boxes are optional but recommended reading.

Each chapter of the text ends with a review. you are accountable for the definition of all Key Terms that occur in either bold or italic in the assigned reading. Studying the rest of the Chapter Review is optional but good training.

Assignments are listed below most recent first:

Theme Reading Topics Textbook Pages Complete Reading By
User Interface Overview
Intro to Hardware
Input devices
Output Devices 		5-15
25-26
46-51
56-63
 January 11
Operating systems Intro to Software
Windows
Passwords
Communication 		73-75
83-95
288
247-255 		January 18
(quiz)
Binary world Data processing
Data storage
Safe Computing
Data transmission 		27-41
64-67
295
214-221 		January 25
Applications Applications
The Internet
Internet exploration
Computer-assisted instruction 		76-82
242-246
256-262
396-402 		February 1
(quiz)
Spreadsheets Spreadsheets
Viruses
Bugs 		131-144
283-284
296-299 		February 8
Databases Databases
Privacy
Productivity 		185-195
204-206
380-385 		February 15
(quiz)
Web publishing:
images and sounds 		Digitizing
Digital Imaging
Digital Sound
Building a web site 		53-55
155-163
172-174
263-267 		February 22
Web publishing:
texts and layout 		Word processing
HTML tutorial 		106-122
Additional required reading is the online
NCSA Beginner's Guide to HTML
(Full-length version) 		February 29
(quiz)
Programming 308-316
320-322
451-455 		Algorithms
Languages
Hardware review 		March 7

Lab Assignments

The labs are organized into hands-on Learning Units that focus on particular themes. Each unit contains several related projects to be completed and turned in electronically in a few weeks. The themes of the learning units are, in chronological order:
  1. Interacting and communicating: Windows GUI, UNIX text user-interface, Email, Newsgroup, Internet browsing. Lab 1 instructions are available. The due date is Monday, January 24 at 2:00 pm.

  2. Office productivity software: word processor, spreasheet, database, presentation manager. Lab 2 instructions are available. The due date is Monday, February 14 at 2:00 pm.

  3. Web publishing: using digitizing hardware for image and sound; creating hypermedia; javascript programming.

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