Being Fluent with Information Technology (1999) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
2 The Intellectual Framework of Fluency with Information Technology
2 The Intellectual Framework of Fluency with Information Technology
Pages 15-40
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 15... ...
By contrast, FITness requires that persons understand information technology broadly enough to be able to apply it productively at work and in their everyday lives, to recognize when information technology would assist or impede the achievement of a goal, and to continually adapt to the changes in and advancement of information technology. FITness therefore requires a deeper, more essential understanding and mastery of information technology for information processing, communication, and problem solving than does computer literacy as traditionally defined.
|
From page 16... ...
Aspects of FITness can be developed by using spreadsheets for personal or professional budgeting, desktop publishing tools to create or edit documents or Web pages, search engines and database management tools for locating information on the Web or in large databases, and design tools to create visualizations in various scientific and engineering disciplines. The wide variety of contexts in which FITness is relevant is matched by the rapid pace at which information technology evolves.
|
From page 17... ...
The intellectual capabilities of FITness refer to one's ability to apply information technology in complex and sustained situations and to understand the consequences of doing so. These capabilities transcend particular hardware or software applications.
|
From page 18... ...
Intellectual capabilities and skills relate to very practical matters, getting at the heart of what it means to function in a complex technology-oriented world. And all have the characteristic that the acquisition of information technology skills, the understanding of information technology concepts, and the development of intellectual capabilities are lifelong activities.
|
From page 19... ...
Learning information technology skills and concepts and developing the intellectual capabilities can be undertaken without reference to each other, but such an effort will not promote FITness to any significant degree. The three elements of FITness are co-equal, each reinforcing the others, and all are essential to FITness.2 · Study that emphasizes skills without fundamental concepts and intellectual capabilities meets some needs for utility in the short term.
|
From page 20... ...
Further, concepts provide the raw material needed to engage in capability-based action such as engaging in sustained reasoning and managing complexity. · Study that emphasizes capabilities at the expense of concepts and skills will lack the essential connection to information technology.
|
From page 21... ...
Thus, individuals might use desktop publishing programs, computer-assisted design tools, visualization and modeling environments, Web-search engines, or a variety of other technological resources to help implement a solution.
|
From page 22... ...
. Debugging is a complex process that often goes beyond the technology and includes the personal and social aspects of the undertak
|
From page 23... ...
Debugging is necessary because the best-designed and best-integrated systems will still exhibit unanticipated behavior. Bugs are inevitably encountered in any ongoing effort using information technology, and thus users must anticipate the need to identify them, diagnose their sources (e.g., by recognizing patterns in observations or in fault reports, distinguishing root causes from derivative but proximate causes, and designing systematic diagnostic experiments)
|
From page 24... ...
Thus, the design process for information structures involves elements of communication (and may involve programming of some sort)
|
From page 25... ...
An effective communication to experts might involve translating informal needs into formal requirements, for example, moving from a "wish list" expressed during a lunchtime conversation to a more formal tasking to a work team. These formal requirements form the basis for discussing whether or not a project performs correctly, and therefore underlie the ability to test and debug.
|
From page 26... ...
Finally, technological systems may be designed for a particular intensity of usage, but may display unexpected behavior or may result in unexpected consequences when the actual intensity of usage is higher. For example: · Acquisition of a cellular telephone "for emergency use only" for a low monthly payment often results in first-time bills that are much larger than expected, because the user finds the convenience of the cellular telephone irresistible.
|
From page 27... ...
A person who effectively determines how to apply information technology to his or her needs will think about information technology abstractly. For example, she will reflect on her use of information technology, identifying characteristics and commonalities that cut across technological experiences.
|
From page 28... ...
6The discussion in this section identifies various information technology concepts in a form that approximates that of a catalog description of a course. A full explanation of the concepts would be appropriate for a textbook, but not for a report attempting to outline a basic framework for understanding information technology.
|
From page 29... ...
Understanding the abstract structure of such systems prepares students for employment, enhances job mobility, enables workers to adapt to new systems more quickly, and helps them to exploit more fully the facilities of a given system.
|
From page 30... ...
5. Information organization The general concepts of information organization, including forms, structure, classification and indexing, searching and retrieving, assessing information quality, authoring and presentation, and citation.
|
From page 31... ...
Further, algorithmic thinking is key to applying information technology to other personally relevant situations.
|
From page 32... ...
Other tasks, such as that of placing objects into a container so as to maximize the number that can be stored within it (e.g., optimally filling boxcars, shipping containers, moving vans, or space shuttles) , can be solved only for small problems but not for large ones or those of practical importance.8 Some tasks are so easily solved that it hardly matters which solution is used.
|
From page 33... ...
10. Societal impact of information and information technology The technical basis for social concerns about privacy, intellectual property, ownership, security, weak/strong encryption, inferences about per
|
From page 34... ...
Discussion These fundamental concepts represent major ideas underpinning information technology. The claim that FITness demands an understanding of these concepts is most frequently challenged by an analogy: If most people can drive without understanding how an automobile works, why should anyone need to know how a computer works?
|
From page 35... ...
2.6 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SKILLS Skills such as managing a personal computer, using word processing, network browsers, mail, and spreadsheet software, or understanding an operating system are what are most usually subsumed under the label of "computer literacy." Because information technology skills are closely tied to today's applications, the set of necessary skills can be expected to change at about the same rate that commercial information technology changes, i.e., quite rapidly. (Note, for example, that a list of skills developed five years ago would not have mentioned the Web or the Internet.)
|
From page 36... ...
These items and other similar ones emerged from a question posed to attendees at the committee's January 1998 workshop about what an information technology-literate person should know. This list of skills extends in one important way the content of "computer literacy" courses that teach individuals how to use specific software packages.
|
From page 37... ...
Setting up a personal computer A person who uses computers should be able to connect the parts of a
|
From page 38... ...
5. Connecting a computer to a network Today, this process can be as simple as wiring the computer to a telephone jack and subscribing to an Internet service provider, although as more powerful communications options become available, this process may become more complex.
|
From page 39... ...
10. Using instructional materials to learn how to use new applications or features This skill involves using online help files and reading and understanding printed manuals.
|
From page 40... ...
But does being FIT mean that one will never need to rely on an information technology expert? Put differently, does an individual's consultation of an information technology expert imply a lack of FITness for that individual?
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.