Information Technology I helps students understand technical concepts underlying current and future developments in information technology. There will be a special emphasis on networks and distributed computing. Students will also gain some hands-on exposure to powerful, high-level tools for making computers do amazing things, without the need for conventional programming languages. Since 15.564 is an introductory course, no knowledge of how computers work or are programmed is assumed.

The first video in the Internet series of videos supporting the Introduction to Computers and BCIS series.

In this video we talk about what is a computer network and how that relates to the Internet. We also talk about some of the basic types of network hardware we need to make a network as well as the difference between a LAN and WAN.

If you have no background in networking this is the video to start with before you go any further into the Internet series.

We love our definitions and in this video we define what the Internet is. We take a quick look at how the Internet got its start. Finally we look at how to get on the Internet, how to pick the right ISP and check to see how fast you are surfing.

Links from video:
http://www.speedtest.net/
http://speedtest.comcast.net/

Get ready to Geek out. In this video we take a look under the hood of the Internet. We see what technologies run the Internet and more importantly how the make our lives easier.

Topics we cover include :
*TCP/IP
*HTTP & HTTPS
*FTP
*SMTP
*POP3
*Telnet

Links from Video:
FileZilla https://filezilla-project.org/
CuteFTP: http://www.cuteftp.com/
SmartFTP; http://www.smartftp.com/
Cyberduck: http://cyberduck.io/?l=en
Mozilla Thunderbird: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/
Star Wars ASCII: http://youtu.be/Dgwyo6JNTDA

Because the World Wide Web is such an important part of the Internet it gets a two part video. In this part we look at the history of the World Wide Web, as well as what the web is, and Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP).

In part we examine:
*Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
*Dynamic Name Server (DNS)
*Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)

We continue our look at the World Wide Web. in the previous video we looked the history of the web, as well as what Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP) was.

In this video we complete our look at the WWW and cover:
*Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
*Dynamic Name Server (DNS)
*Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)

The final video in our series on the Internet. In this one we look at what is cloud computing as well as some example of how cloud computing makes your life so much cooler.

We also present our top website to check out.

Links from the video:
-w3schools http://www.w3schools.com/
-HostGator http://www.hostgator.com/
-Bitly https://bitly.com/
-Google URL Shortener http://goo.gl/
-The IT Crowd - Series 3 - Episode 4: The Internet -http://youtu.be/iDbyYGrswtg
-Paul Soares Jr. https://www.youtube.com/user/paulsoaresjr

First unit from the ICT in Education Teacher's Course on Internet Search: Teachers should be able to describe the Internet and the World Wide Web, elaborate on their uses, describe how a browser works and use a URL to access a website. (TL.4.e)

This short lesson is designed for middle school students (grades 6-8). It goes over a simple definition of the internet, it's risks, and ways to practice internet safety. There is also a short activity at the end to reflect on the subject and consider how it applies to the student. 

Being able to conduct productive job searches is key to finding employment opportunities. Digital literacy is also a necessity for gaining employment. That’s why this course aims to provide adult basic education participants the ability to self-navigate the internet to search for relevant, reliable search results. Participants will be able to demonstrate how this increased digital literacy related to internet searching can help them successfully find relevant job opportunities.

This unit is adapted from Common Sense Education's Digital Citizenship Curriculum for Grades 3-5 to include ideas on how to integrate education technology, using formative and summative assessment tools, such as Kahoot! and Socrative. There is also an example of how to use a QR code linked to AnswerGarden, another type of assessment tool.

An introduction to several fundamental ideas in electrical engineering and computer science, using digital communication systems as the vehicle. The three parts of the course—bits, signals, and packets—cover three corresponding layers of abstraction that form the basis of communication systems like the Internet.
The course teaches ideas that are useful in other parts of EECS: abstraction, probabilistic analysis, superposition, time and frequency-domain representations, system design principles and trade-offs, and centralized and distributed algorithms. The course emphasizes connections between theoretical concepts and practice using programming tasks and some experiments with real-world communication channels.

This course explores perspectives in the policy process - agenda setting, problem definition, framing the terms of debate, formulation and analysis of options, implementation and evaluation of policy outcomes using frameworks including economics and markets, law, and business and management. Methods include cost/benefit analysis, probabilistic risk assessment, and system dynamics. Exercises include developing skills to work on the interface between technology and societal issues; simulation exercises; case studies; and group projects that illustrate issues involving multiple stakeholders with different value structures, high levels of uncertainty, multiple levels of complexity; and value trade-offs that are characteristic of engineering systems. Emphasis on negotiation, team building and group dynamics, and management of multiple actors and leadership.

This course is an introduction to the consideration of technology as the outcome of particular technical, historical, cultural, and political efforts, especially in the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries. Topics include industrialization of production and consumption, development of engineering professions, the emergence of management and its role in shaping technological forms, the technological construction of gender roles, and the relationship between humans and machines.

This class is a survey of the mass media, including newspapers, magazines, television, radio, book publishing, music publishing, motion pictures and advertising and how all of those have been affected by the development of the Internet. This course emphasizes the history and structural biases of the mass media, and encourages students to critically analyze the role of media in society, and to become media literate.

Students learn about complex networks and how to use graphs to represent them. They also learn that graph theory is a useful part of mathematics for studying complex networks in diverse applications of science and engineering, including neural networks in the brain, biochemical reaction networks in cells, communication networks, such as the internet, and social networks. Students are also introduced to random processes on networks. An illustrative example shows how a random process can be used to represent the spread of an infectious disease, such as the flu, on a social network of students, and demonstrates how scientists and engineers use mathematics and computers to model and simulate random processes on complex networks for the purposes of learning more about our world and creating solutions to improve our health, happiness and safety.

KICTCFT: The teacher can use web resources that match the subject areas. Specific Objectives: By the end of this unit you should be able to, 1] Search on the Internet using various search engines, 2] Identify subject-specific web portals or repositories for use, 3] Operate various open-ended software packages appropriate for your subject
Evaluate the accuracy of web resources, and 4] Reference Internet materials using a standard format.

KICTCFT: Teacher to be aware of internet safety issues and protect students from harm while using the internet. Teachers should guide students to protect themselves when working online. Specific Objectives: On completion of this unit you should be able to: 1] Identify Internet safety issues and 2] Manage Internet safety issues.

This instance of “Media, Education, and the Marketplace” focuses on the rise of information and communications technologies (ICTs) during the age of globalization, specifically examining its effect and potential in developing nations across the world. In particular, the class will focus on the following three components:

“Media” – ICTs, specifically the dramatic rise in use of the Internet over the past twenty years, have “globalized” the world and created opportunities where very few have been available in the past. We are entering a phase where an individual can significantly improve his or her own economical, political, and social circumstances with just a computer and Internet connection. This course investigate these profound developments through current research and case studies.
“Education” – With projects such as MIT’s OpenCourseWare, the major players in the world are beginning to understand the true power of ICTs in development. Throughout this class, we examine projects that harness the benefits of ICTs to create positive social change around the world.
“Marketplace” – The focus is on the developing regions of the world. Specifically, the term “digital divide” is tossed around in everyday language, but what does it really mean? Is there an international digital divide, a national digital divide, or both? Should we try to bridge this divide, and how have past attempts succeeded and (for the most part) failed? Why? These are all questions that are asked throughout this course.

This course has a very unique pedagogy, which is discussed in more detail in the syllabus section.