Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!poppy.cis.ohio-state.edu!perlman From: perlman@poppy.cis.ohio-state.edu (Gary Perlman) Newsgroups: comp.edu Subject: Re: Logo for college-level computer literacy courses Message-ID: <82626@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> Date: 1 Aug 90 21:19:04 GMT References: <1990Jul31.195854.4630@cs.rochester.edu> <82599@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> <52882@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu> <15490@thorin.cs.unc.edu> Sender: news@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu Reply-To: Gary Perlman Organization: Computer & Info Sci Ohio State Univ Columbus, OH 43210 Lines: 22 In article <15490@thorin.cs.unc.edu> carr@pi.UUCP (Michael Carr) writes: > The argument is between two different types of "computer literacy", >not ways to teach it. Is computer literacy 1) being able to use pre-packaged >software ( wordperfect, etc. ) or 2) being able to write your own programs >to manipulate the computer. I think this is an important distinction, but the two are not independent. Every day, non-programmers use pre-packaged software to write their own programs. For example, you can use WordPerfect to write a billing system that prompts for inputs and creates forms. The sorts of applications that non-programmers write with database macros can manipulate computers more than most programmers could hope to with a traditional programming language. I think it is important in a computer literacy course that the students learn some fundamental concepts like problem decomposition and algorithm, and that these can be communicated in an applied context. -=- Name: Gary Perlman | Computer and Information Science Department Email: perlman@cis.ohio-state.edu | Ohio State University, 228 Bolz Hall Phone: 614-292-2566 | 2036 Neil Avenue Mall Fax: 614-785-9837 or 292-9021 | Columbus, OH 43210-1277 USA