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Last updated:

April 7, 2022

Duration:

Unlimited Duration

FREE

This course includes:

Unlimited Duration

Badge on Completion

Certificate of completion

Unlimited Duration

Description

This free course, Introducing computing and IT

provides a general overview of how digital technologies have come to dominate virtually every aspect of the modern world and some guidance on how to prepare for this digital life. It raises awareness of the importance of data security and online safety. It also provides an explanation of the internal structure and workings of a typical computer and describes hard and solid state drives in some detail.

Course learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

  • Understand the idea of a ‘digital world’
  • Explain the role of computing and information technology (IT) in a digital world
  • Understand the importance of keeping safe online
  • Understand how the use of online search engines can influence your beliefs and actions
  • Describe how data are stored on and deleted from a hard disk drive (HDD)
  • Describe how data are stored on and deleted from a solid state drive (SSD).

Course Curriculum

  • Introduction 00:10:00
  • Learning outcomes 00:10:00
    • Computers: from rarity to ubiquity 00:10:00
    • The telephone 00:15:00
    • The computer 00:15:00
    • The information society 00:15:00
    • The rise of texting and messaging 00:15:00
    • Summary of Section 1 00:10:00
    • Some aspects of our information society 00:10:00
    • Business 00:15:00
    • Commerce 00:15:00
    • Work 00:10:00
    • Communities 00:15:00
    • Information 00:10:00
    • Entertainment 00:15:00
    • Public information and services 00:15:00
    • Changing internet use over time 00:15:00
    • Security and risk 00:30:00
    • Communicating on the move 00:10:00
    • Summary of Section 2 00:05:00
    • Participating in a digital world 00:15:00
    • Netiquette: respecting other people online 00:15:00
    • Other cues 00:20:00
    • Moderation 00:10:00
    • Some other advice 00:15:00
    • Ethical and legal considerations 00:15:00
    • Copyright 00:15:00
    • Good academic practice 00:10:00
    • Summary of Section 3 00:10:00
    • Are search engines bad for your health? 00:15:00
    • Childhood vaccinations 00:25:00
    • The number of myths 00:10:00
    • Countering myths 00:10:00
    • Explicit recommendations 00:15:00
    • Summary of Section 4 00:15:00
    • Hard disk drives: a conversation 00:15:00
    • The structure of a hard disk drive 00:15:00
    • Storing files on a hard drive 00:10:00
    • Formatting a hard disk 00:30:00
    • Deleting data from an HDD 00:15:00
    • How to permanently delete data from an HDD 00:15:00
    • Fragmentation 00:15:00
    • Summary of Section 5 00:10:00
    • Solid-state drives: The conversation continued 00:15:00
    • Comparing SSDs and HDDs 00:20:00
    • How flash memory works 00:15:00
    • Writing data to an SSD 00:15:00
    • Deleting data from an SSD 00:10:00
    • Summary of Section 6 00:10:00
    • Conclusion 00:10:00
    • Acknowledgements 00:15:00

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Open University UK