Fluency with Information Technology: Skills, Concepts, and Capabilities, 3/E
Lawrence Snyder, University of Washington

ISBN-10: 0321512391
ISBN-13: 9780321512390

Publisher: Prentice Hall
Copyright: 2008
Format: Paper; 784 pp
Published: 10/12/2007

Suggested retail price: $98.60
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Fluency with Information Technology: Skills, Concepts, and Capabilities, Third Edition, equips readers who are already familiar with computers, the Internet, and the World Wide Web with a deeper understanding of the broad capabilities of technology. Through a project-oriented learning approach that uses examples and realistic problem-solving scenarios, Larry Snyder teaches readers to navigate information technology independently and become effective users of today’s resources, forming a foundation of skills they can adapt to their personal and career goals as future technologies emerge.

  • Through three different types of content—skills, concepts, and capabilities—Fluency with Information Technology prepares students to adapt to an ever-changing computing environment through lifelong learning:
    • Skills consist of competence and proficiency with contemporary computer applications like email, word processing, and Web searching. Skills make the technology immediately useful to students and ground students’ learning of other content in practical experience.
    • Concepts are the fundamental principles upon which information technology is based, such as how computers work, digital representation of information, and assessment of information authenticity. Concepts provide the principles on which students will build new understanding as IT evolves.
    • Capabilities are the aptitude to apply higher-level thinking in complex situations, such as problem solving, reasoning, complexity management, and troubleshooting. Capabilities embody modes of thinking that are essential to exploiting IT, but they apply in many other situations as well.
  • In-chapter and end-of-chapter features encourage Fluency with Information Technology (FIT):
    • fitTIP: Practical hints and suggestions for everyday computer use.
    • fitBYTE: Interesting facts and statistics.
    • fitCAUTION: Warnings and explanations of common mistakes.
    • Try It: Short, in-chapter exercises with solutions provided.
    • Checklists: A useful list of steps for completing a specific task.
    • Great fit Moments: A historical look at some of the major milestones in computing.
    • Great fit Minds: A closer look at some of the influential pioneers in technology.
  • An extensive supplements package includes a computer skills lab workbook that contains fourteen labs that go step by step through the basics of Microsoft® Office 2007, Windows Vista™, email, Web browsing, debugging, and image editing. For instructors, an online solutions manual and computerized test bank are available.  Visit the Companion Website for more information.

  • After a comprehensive survey of users, coverage is fine-tuned to appeal to a wider audience.
  • Updated to reflect the latest operating systems:
    • Windows Vista™, including Ribbon, a new feature of Microsoft® Office
    • Mac OS® X, including Boot Camp, which allows Mac® users to install and run Windows® on a Mac
  • Complete revision of the database chapters, including:
    • XML database representation and processing
    • Revised relational database coverage emphasizing query by example
    • New database case study
  • Expanded and revised searching and Web navigation.
  • Revised coverage of bits and bytes in Chapter 8, Bits and the "Why" of Bytes: Representing Information Digitally.
  • Medical virtual reality applications are added to Chapter 11, Light, Sound, Magic: Representing Multimedia Digitally.
  • Expanded security, phishing, identity theft, and wireless security in Chapter 13, Shhh, It's a Secret: Privacy and Digital Security, which is moved earlier in the text.
  • More advanced spreadsheet material including data presentation and graphing enhances Chapter 14, Fill-in-the-Blank Computing: Basics of Spreadsheets.

Part 1. BECOMING SKILLED AT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
1. Terms of Endearment: Defining Information Technology
2. What the Digerati Know: Exploring the Human–Computer Interface
3. Making the Connection: The Basics of Networking
4. Marking Up with HTML: A Hypertext Markup Language Primer
5. Searching for Truth: Locating Information on the WWW
6. Searching for Guinea Pig B: Case Study in Online Research

Part 2. ALGORITHMS AND DIGITIZING INFORMATION
7. To Err Is Human: An Introduction to Debugging
8. Bits and the "Why" of Bytes: Representing Information Digitally
9. Following Instructions: Principles of Computer Operation
10. What's the Plan? Algorithmic Thinking
11. Light, Sound, Magic: Representing Multimedia Digitally

Part 3. DATA AND INFORMATION
12. Computers in Polite Society: Social Implications of IT
13. Shhh, It's a Secret: Privacy and Digital Security
14. Fill-in-the-Blank Computing: Basics of Spreadsheets
15. ‘What If’ Thinking Helps: Advanced Spreadsheets for Planning
16. A Table with a View: Database Queries
17. iDiary: A Case Study in Database Design

Part 4. PROBLEM SOLVING
18. Get with the Program: Fundamental Concepts Expressed in JavaScript
19. The Bean Counter: A JavaScript Program
20. Thinking Big: Programming Functions
21. Once Is Not Enough: Iteration Principles
22. The Smooth Motion: Case Study in Algorithmic Problem Solving
23. Computers Can Do Almost {Everything, Nothing}: Limits to Computation
24. A Fluency Summary: Click to Close

Appendixes
Appendix A: HTML Reference
Appendix B: iDiary Database
Appendix C: JavaScript Programming Rules
Appendix D: Bean Counter Program
Appendix E: Memory Bank Program
Appendix F: Smooth Motion Program

Glossary
Answers to Selected Questions
Index

Make sure your students get "FIT"

Visit the Companion Web site for Fluency with Information Technology: Concepts, Capabilities, and Skills, 3rd edition, by Lawrence Snyder.

Larry Snyder was the chairman of the National Research Council's (NRC) committee that issued the report, "Being Fluent with Information Technology." It is this NRC committee funded by the National Science Foundation that identified the three types of knowledge needed in Fluency. Larry received his BA in 1968 from the University of Iowa and his Ph.D. in 1973 at Carnegie Mellon. He taught at schools such as Yale, MIT, Harvard, and Syndey University before settling down at the University of Washington in 1983, where he is currently a professor of computer science and engineering.

Technology continues to evolve as our primary tool for communication, organization, research, and problem solving. Fluency with Information Technology: Skills, Concepts, and Capabilities, Third Edition equips readers who are already familiar with computers, applications, and the Internet with a deeper understanding of the broad capabilities of technology. This text helps readers form a foundation of knowledge they can adapt to their personal and career goals as future technologies emerge.

 

Professor Lawrence Snyder served as chairman of the National Research Council's report Being Fluent with Information Technology. His book implements the vision of that report, helping individuals become fluent with technology by covering three knowledge areas: Skills, Concepts, and Capabilities.

  • Skills: Technology immediately useful such as email, navigating the World Wide Web, spreadsheets, and word processing
  • Concepts: Fundamentals of netowrks, how computers work, assessing the authenticity of information, digital representations, and information structuring
  • Capabilities: Reasoning, problem solving, and trouble shooting

Highlights of the Third Edition:

  • Updated coverage of the latest operating systems and their respective features including Windows Vista™, Ribbon, and Mac OS®X
  • Revised database material including XML database representation and processing, revised national database coverage emphasizing query by example, and a new case study
  • Increased coverage of Web navigation and searching
  • Expanded coverage of online security, phishing (fraud), identity theft, and wireless security

It is easy to teach Fluency!

A complete supplements package is available with this book. Visit www.aw.com/snyder for more information

Computer Skills Workbook ISBN-13: 978-0-321-52255-9 ISBN-10:0-321-52255-9

 

For more information on the National Research Council report please visit www.nationalacademies.org/nrc

 

View a Sample Chapter PDF:

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  • 032155664XFluency with Information Technology: Skills, Concepts, and Capabilities, CourseSmart eTextbook, 3/E
    Snyder
    © 2008 | Prentice Hall | Electronic Book; 784 pages | Instock
    ISBN-10: 032155664X | ISBN-13: 9780321556646
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