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FIT or unFIT: Change or Die Become Obsolete John Dougherty Computer Science at Haverford College www.cs.haverford.edu What does he mean by “FIT or unFIT”? FIT : Fluent with Information Technology (hey, I didn’t make it up :-)
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FIT or unFIT:Change or DieBecome Obsolete • John Dougherty • Computer Science at Haverford College • www.cs.haverford.edu
What does he mean by “FIT or unFIT”? • FIT: Fluent with Information Technology (hey, I didn’t make it up :-) • Literate implies you have some skills with a set of computer applications • Fluent means you get the concepts behind the applications, and are capable of applying these skills in various contexts • NRC reference; UWashington reference; Haverford reference (CS101: FIT)
Big Deal; What’s the real agenda? • investigate some of the concepts and issues with computers, IT, and people • discuss the relationship among computing, computation, computers and other IT • try some exercises to explore computing (perhaps experiment with learning ideas) • discuss the role of computing in education
So, what do you know? • (This is the part where each of you gets to share with me you experiences, perceptions, and opinions about computing, and I try to summarize them and make useful observations)
What do you want? • water-based computation -> logic of addition • story-telling in a virtual world with Alice • computation can’t handle conflict (abstract) • algorithms for songs • learning logarithms with a phonebook • using cards to discover algorithms • computing, IT, and accessibility
Computing with H2O • Ingredients - big bucket of water • paper cups, one small cup • bar and aluminum plate • Explain threshold gates • OR, then AND, then XOR • return to build others with Logg-o • build half adder, then full adder
Programming with Alice • visit www.alice.org, download and install • try the tutorial(s) • picture a simple world, <30 seconds spot • trial and error, ask questions • object-based: properties, methods & functions • save image for webpage
Limits of Computation • sing the Recursion Song a few times • recursion can lead to issues (Infinite Regress) -- “lather, rinse, repeat” • classic paradoxes (“this is a lie”, barber) • recall Cantor diagonalization, Godel incompleteness, then Turing’s Halting Problem
Song Algorithms • sing the Recursion Song • state the rules for the song • state rules recursively (note: recursive description of the Recursion Song) • pick simple song and provide algorithm (e.g., row your boat, lady and the fly, hole in the bottom of the sea)
Logs and Phonbooks • ask how many attempts to find a name • ask how many more attempts to find if the phonebook was doubled in size, then 4x • now ask about finding a number • discuss relationship of sorting and searching • extra: can you make a faster search?
Card Algorithms • define a sorted deck of cards • sort a deck of cards (time) • discuss how it was sorted; formally? • other ways? permutation, enumerate-test • would more sorters help? hurt? let’s try!
Accessible Computing • IT can leverage human potential, why not help enable the disabled • use the web, google, Temple IoD • vision: text-to-speech • hearing: flashing alerts • mobility: alternative input devices • cultural issues: ???