B211 Internet Computing - Learning Objectives

Objectives of this unit

Learning Objectives

The learning objectives for students enrolled in this unit are:

Understand technologies: Gain an understand of the technical workings of key Internet and web technologies.

Write software: Be able to write software that operate using the technologies in (1).

Understand how to apply technologies: Learn to apply technologies in (2) and the software in (2) to create solutions for problems.

Life-long learning: Develope appropriate attitudes and sufficient skills in independent self-learning to be able to adapt to future changes and continue to contribute effectively to Internet developments after leaving this unit.

To achieve a high grade in this unit, you should strive to show evidence of achieving these objectives.

Why study the Internet?

We live in an age dominated by information. Information has become our most precious commodity, and one that has the most impact on our lives. For better or for worse, the most powerful entities in the world today are the ones who control the information: from governments to media organizations to multi-national corporation. Post-industrial age empires are built on the creative access, manipulation, transfer, and application of information - and empires have collapse because of the failure to do so.

This dependence on information has been driven by the advancement of communication technology, from the homing pigeon, to the telegraph, to the television. While before information travelled at the speed of the humans who carry it, these advancement have led us to information transfer at the speed of an electron. And as the mechanism becomes more efficient, the more we depend on it - the more we depend on it, the more efficient it becomes - and so the cycle continues.

Today, the most glaring example of the power of communication technology is the Internet. It allows us to send messages across the globe in split-seconds, conduct transactions over a computer screen, share ideas with people spread over different countries in real-time - all this with only the basic ability to type on a keyboard and click a mouse. Information previously managed off-line (by word-of-mouth, paper, film, radio, or even the floppy disk) are now being modified in a large scale to be communicated through the Internet. At the current rate of growth, there will come a stage where the Internet will be the default location of any information, and the default medium for its manipulation.

Therefore, for us to understand the information-based society we find ourselves in today and tomorrow, for us to wield influence over the direction of where we are to go (as individuals, organizations, communities, or civilisation as a whole), our greatest hope lies in our understanding of information technology, and our control of it's currently most powerful component - the Internet.

Also, you need 3 points for your degree, so you'd better study it...

What this unit is NOT!

This unit is not geared towards just making you a sophisticated user of the Internet. It requires a much deeper understanding of the technical aspects, so that you may make decisions based on more than just what is presented to you through software interfaces. Most practical work in this unit is directed towards exposing the underlying technologies behind such interfaces. It is the aim of this unit that you gain an understanding of what goes behind the various operations, rather than just memorising a sequence of key-strokes and mouse-clicks to achieve a certain effect.

On the other side of the coin, this unit is also not a full-blown developers' programming course. It provides just enough programming so that you may appreciate the issues behind the software that drives the Internet, and (again) be able to make more informed decisions than a conventional user.

There are other units available in the School of I.T. which can help you with the above two aims, if that is what you desire. Consult the School's Programme Chairs for the Computer Science and Information Systems programmes for available options.

Finally, with the rapid changes that are occurring with the Internet, this unit will not be able to present you with what is to come. The best that we can do is study and learn the technologies currently available, and have the fundamental knowledge to meet the changes, the skills to learn in the future, and the desire to take advantage of the changes. In the end, the most precious attributes for successful existence on the Internet, is adaptability and willingness to change.