Welcome to Computers and Modern Society! Our goal, as the teaching staff , is to introduce you to the world of computers -- what they are, how they work, where they came from, what problems they cause, what benefits they bring, and their overall effect on "modern society". By the end of the semester, you should be computer literate. Though there will always be more to learn, we will try to give you the basics.

Entailed in this literacy is first-hand knowledge and experience with computers themselves and timely computer related issues. This means that you will need to USE a computer (either on campus or from home, we have tried to make the computer side of this course do able almost entirely from home). You are responsible for all information on the webpage and for what is said in class.

One of the hottest topics in the computer world today is the Internet. The Internet is a vast network of connected computers. This fact, in and of itself, is not what makes it such a hot topic. Credit for this has been given to the utilities and the enormous amount of information available through their use. Examples of internet utilities include: electronic mail, FTP, the World Wide Web (WWW), news groups, and much more. These applications allow people or other computers to gain access to the abundant amounts of information stored throughout the world. You will gain knowledge of, and experience with, many of these applications.

DEFINITIONS OF COMMON TERMS

A list of definitions that will aid in your understanding of the information contained within these pages is provided for you. To view this list, perform one of the following two tasks. If you are using Netscape or any other graphical web browser, move the cursor to and click on the subheading above. If you are using Lynx or any other text-based browser, press the up and down arrows until the subheading above is highlighted and hit the right arrow.

WWW BROWSERS

Explanations of the use of each one of these browsers can be found in WEB BROWSERS under the Technical Information section of the class homepage.

WHAT YOU SEE HERE AND WHAT IT MEANS

You are currently looking at a page of a document on the World Wide Web. Like most other documents on the web, this one contains multiple pages that are connected together with what are known as links. Links are shown within a document as either graphics highlighted text (see the word "links" above).

Moving within the web from one page to another via links is known as following or going down a link. This can be done in graphical web browsers (like Netscape) by moving the cursor to the link and hitting the leftmost button on the mouse. To follow a link using LYNX, use the up and down arrow keys until the link is highlighted and either hit return or the right arrow key.

Web browsers maintain a history of where you have been so that you can easily return to previously viewed section/page. You do this by clicking on the back button at the top left of the Netscape or Internet Explorer window. In Netscape, if you hold the mouse button down on the back button, a a list of previously viewed pages will be shown and you can pick the one you want. In IE, there is a drop arrow beside the back button that does the same thing. These allow you to skip backwards by several documents at a time. The pages for this class were meant to be viewed in Netscape though you may use any browser you like to read them (they might not look exactly the same, but all the information should be there). WARNING: The history list has a finite length. If you follow multiple links, old items on the list will be removed from the history. If this occurs, then type the URL of the page you wish to return to in the box marked "Location" at the top of your browser.

WRAP UP

This class should be FUN!!! Feel free to "play" on the computer system -- there is no better way to learn how to use it. Be certain to ask the TA's any and all questions that you may have. Their office hours are posted under the link of Teaching Staff (or CGS3063 STAFF)