CTH - Evolution of the Computer (Lesson)

Evolution of the Computer

First Impressions

A first impression is the first thing that pops into your mind when you see, taste, or experience something.  

Is the impression a stereotype, an identification of an object, a sense, a puzzlement or I don't know leading to analysis of what you do know?  Whatever the impression is, it shapes our thought process as to how to proceed. If you touch a hot object, you may drop it with an exclamation of OUCH after first registering the sense of "hot"!

So, what is a computer?

In this module, you will be asked to create a current impression and then reflect and learn more concerning various topics.  Computer Science is an ever changing topic, continually moving as a wave does in the ocean. The wave breaks on the beach, the water recedes, only to come back again as a new wave.  

Computer Science is like this wave. An item is created, everyone is excited, and then the item recedes in importance as a new item is created.  An ever changing environment based on creativity of the people willing to explore and create new concepts that will change society.

Saving Our Thoughts

In order to complete this course with an understanding of thought processes, analysis, and working in collaboration with others, it will be important to follow the directions in the course. This will sometimes mean saving your thoughts at the moment, taking time to analyze, and then later looking back on what you wrote and deciding what and why you now feel or think differently.  At times you will share your thoughts with others and collaborate to combine everyone's thoughts to decide what, when, where, why, and how progression was made from one understanding to another. Hint: whenever you see the icon, you'll know it is time to save your thoughts.

Part of the final Advanced Placement Exam will be questions asking about your learning and collaboration. Whether or not you intend to take the exam (which I hope you do), you broaden your depth of knowledge.  To help you with this understanding, this course will ask questions along the way that you will be asked to keep in digital form.

A basic digital form is a text editor. The text editor allows you to type words, symbols and numbers and store them digitally. Basic editing features of copy, paste, replace, and delete may be available.  For a PC, a basic text editor is Notepad. For a Mac, a basic text editor is called TextEdit.

Depending on the type of computer you have, try the basic editor that comes with your computer. The file extensions for text editors are .txt or .rtf when saved (text or rich text format respectively).

Another use of a text editor is to build a website using HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) or write in various computer languages using text.

Note that the text editor is different from a word processor. A word processor allows the user to not only be a text editor, but to modify text with publishing techniques of page headings, tables, colors, special formatting (italics, fonts, etc.), charts, and more depending on the word processor. Word processors check your spelling and punctuation, create sections in documents, add page numbers and more.

A word processor organizes documents to help them appear professional. A text editor primarily serves a purpose of holding basic text for use.  An example of a PC word processor is Word and for a Mac, Pages.

Writing Text

It is now time to begin our first thought process.   The question is What is a Computer? 

Your answer should not be thought of for an hour, a half-hour, 15 minutes or even 5 minutes. Simply write your current reflection on the topic taking at most 1 - 2 minutes.       

Quickly jot down in digital form using a word processor your thoughts, your first impressions, of the topic "What is a computer?" without:

  1. going on to other pages in this module 
  2. searching on the internet 
  3. using any other outside resource including other people, printed text, etc. 

Remember, this is your first thoughts, no research! This is your reflection as a beginning for the course.  Always provide your best answer.  An IDK (I don't know) is not an answer.  Your answer should always start with what you do know about an object or topic and then extend from there.  Asking a question get's a much better answer that hits the point you want if you provide what you do know!

With your word processor, this would be a good time to determine if you could create a table of contents where the question is the title for the first content page.  Digital organization is important to be able to retrieve prior ideas and notes. 

Recall that this is a computer science class. Storing ideas digitally to come back to later with a computer program, in this case a word processor, is one type of computer science. People understanding detailed programming and problem solving collaborated to create the text editor and word processor.  You will be taking ideas and creating digital artifacts (digitized creations) during this course.   

IMAGE CREATED BY GAVS