COMPUTER LITERACY IN THE 21ST CENTURY Ken Abernethy and Tom Allen Department of Computer Science Furman University Greenville, SC 29613 aberneth@furman. edu and allen@furman.edu 803-294-3219 and 803-294-3221 BACKGROUND AND CURRICULAR NEED The remarkable advances in the price/performance ratio of computer hardware over the past few years, together with a new generation of computer software, are driving dramatic developments in innovative computer usage. In the early days of computing it was recognized that the speed of computers was especially useful for processing tasks that were characterized by large amounts of information (information-plenty tasks). Today, new developments in software and hardware are beginning to exploit the computerOs capabilities for representing and processing rich forms of information that enhance our intellectual abilities. Thus, the traditional model of employing computation for information-plenty tasks is being replaced by a new paradigm that includes information-rich activities. At the heart of these developments is the emergence of two primary technologies: the ability of modern desktop computer systems to collect, store, retrieve, display, and generally manage information in a variety of media; and the possibilities for cooperative work using fully interconnected computers and computer networks. The term multimedia refers to the integration of various forms of information such as text, graphics, sound, and images. The hardware of a computer system already serves as a common denominator by converting all media to the digital domain. The latest generation of software, however, exploits this digital denominator more explicitly by combining and processing various media in new and interesting ways. In short, multimedia computing means that a number of informational technologies are converging. Their combination and interplay create new possibilities. In turn, these new opportunities and capabilities will have a profound impact on the ways in which we work and communicate with one another. Not only will information be more readily available, it will be richer and strikingly more dynamic. In addition, computer networks and data communications have created new possibilities for extending and enhancing how we work and share information, Communication technologies, of course, have existed for a long time. But, communicating over networks of connected computers offers a number of important and exciting advantages that previous technologies cannot. First of all, data communications over computer networks is faster and has a greater capacity than any other previous technology. And, since all types of information are converted to digital form for storage and transmission, we can readily combine and communicate various forms simultaneously: text, audio, and images. In the world of networks, today, cooperative efforts over long distances are commonplace. This will continue to have a profound effect on how organize our work. Connectivity means even more than people communicating with people. Computer networks make it possible for individuals to communicate with other computers over long 160ESCCC-95 distances as well. From a local computer, one can request information, and even borrow software and processing from remote systems. Moreover, networks make it possible for computers to communicate with other computers. In the past, computer systems were often isolated and incompatible with other systems. Networks have broken down these barriers and have motivated the industry to strive for compatibility and interoperability. Today, many computers use networks to request and receive services from other computers automatically and invisibly to the user. Distributing the work of processing among cooperating computer systems is still in its infancy. Even so, we can expect that it will have a profound impact on computing in the future. Indeed, the idea of single or autonomously functioning systems will very likely become anachronistic. In education and in the marketplace, new standards for computer literacy are emerging. ‘The computing literate person does not have to be a programmer in the traditional sense, nor a technologue or narrow specialist; on the other hand, neither will word processing and spreadsheet skills alone suffice. Instead, he or she must be capable of managing di informational media for various uses. This means developing both general knowledge and specific skills. ‘The new literacy means understanding the nature of digital media, both its capabilities and its limits. Of course, the new literacy skills also include applying multimedia computing and networking solutions to specific tasks and problems, It is the challenge of modifying the computer science curriculum to support these new literacy standards. COURSE DEVELOPMENT PLAN Like computer science departments in many other institutions, our department offers two introductory courses, a beginning programming course and a survey/literacy course. This paper describes our revision of the latter course. ‘Titled An Introduction to Computing, it is a four semester hour course with a scheduled two-hour laboratory each week. Although it is not a required course for any curriculum, it reaches a wide audience. Almost one third of all our students take the course at some point during their college careers. Students from all disciplines take this course, including a number of students majoring in mathematics and the sciences. While the computer science community is certainly well aware of the revolutionary developments in multimedia computing and networking, the integration of these new concepts into mainstream CS courses tags behind recognition of their importance, Recognizing the need for curricular development, the National Research Council report, Computing the Future, recommends that undergraduate computer science education be strengthened with a broadening Of the field to contain contact with other disciplines and problem domains. At the same time, the report wholeheartedly supports CS instruction as a laboratory discipline. We concur with these objectives and believe that they are desirable for all students as well as those majoring in CS. ‘The National Science Foundation has supported this effort through an ILI grant to equip a Multimedia Teaching Laboratory. We have used this facility to develop and teach course materials designed to fully integrate multimedia computing, data visualization, and networking concepts into the described introductory course in our computer science curriculum, The new course treats each of the separate forms of digital media: text, numeric, graphics, images, and sounds. Students are introduced to the general principles describing how each medium is converted, stored, and processed in the digital domain. A list of instructional topics follows (these are in addition to the traditional literacy topics): 161ESCCC-95 multimedia documents and presentations integrated multimedia databases for informational storage and retrieval hypertext (as a hybrid form of document and database) the use of visualization for modeling complex systems the use and processing of video images as an information medium processing sound for representing voice and music cooperative computing in the workplace networking for communication and information exchange © social issues associated with these new technologies. A distinctive feature of the new course is a mandatory laboratory project chosen by the student to demonstrate the application of the concepts and techniques studied to a significant problem from another discipline (or combination of disciplines). Each student is required to complete a project which demonstrates a significant use of digital information management and display in their own area of interest. Students are encouraged to form teams to work on projects that show how the tools of multimedia, data visualization, and networking can be applied to common areas of interest or study. Special emphasis is placed on the use of Internet tools and resources to support the project research, Project topics vary depending upon student interest and expertise, but we have several suggested projects from which students can choose each term. It is our goal to search out additional projects as well which can be effective in showing students the richness and complexity of Oreal worldO problems that can be illuminated by information drawn from several disciplines. ‘These experiences will help them to realize the importance and the advantages of data visualization and cooperative work via computer networks in tackling such problems. Weekly lab activities instruct the students on practical aspects related to lecture subjects. Here are some examples. In the medium of computer visual imaging, laboratory activities explore several important tools and techniques: digital image processing for the enhancement and extraction of features in natural images; scientific visualization using graph and graphic modeling; and digital video imaging and processing. For example, students gain practical knowledge about the tools and techniques available for the capture and storage of digital images. We have designed laboratory modules that explore some of the basic techniques of image enhancement, such as histogram stretching, pseudocoloring, and signal filtering. In addition, in other laboratory segments students learn about some of the current methods of image compression with attention to their practical effects on various types of digital images - both single frame (still) images and video. For example, one laboratory problem involves discovering and describing the amount of data loss for various ranges (bits/pixel) of image compression using software based on JPEG standards, Students compare and contrast these results using color images having different content and textures Digital signal processing is another technology that will become even more prominent in the future. This includes digital processing of music, sound, and speech, as well as networking and data transmission. To learn more about the medium of sound, students conduct laboratory activities that involve the sampling, recording, digitization, and editing of natural sound sources. ‘These activities illustrate the trade-offs inherent to sampling rates, fidelity, and storage requirements. Students who are trained in music can opt for projects that involve the computer in the composition, orchestration, editing, and presentation of musical pieces. Students also gain practical experience with the use of networks for acquiring and exchanging information. They are introduced to the basic concepts and organization local area networks, In addition, students learn how the layered architecture of packet switching networks make long-distance internetworking possible. Lab activities provide practical 162ESCCC-95 experience with a variety of Internet applications. Students learn how to perform remote logins, file transfers, and use electronic mail. In addition, they are introduced to information systems such as archie, gopher, and WAIS. Naturally, the intuitive ease and accessibility of information over the World Wide Web make it an extremely popular resource in our labs. Our course design has incorporated several features that we feel are worth noting as well: © separating conceptual issues from practical details © emphasis on problem-solving rather than training © encouraging teamwork and cooperative efforts We have long recognized that the breathless pace of change in computing technology renders nearly all forms of specific training obsolete. Computer hardware and software are constantly evolving. In spite of the changes in detail, there is a common core of hardware and software concepts that remain relatively stable. A truly literate computer user understands that these concepts are important while the details of this or that system and this or that software are ephemeral. Our structure of separate lectures and weekly scheduled, structured laboratories is useful in this regard. To reinforce these ideas, we have consciously separated hardware and software specifics to the laboratory setting and reserved the lectures for the development of computing concepts. Learning how to use a system and software is certainly not an insignificant task. However, mere training for competency is not an acceptable standard for liberal arts institutions such as ours. Consequently, we have tried to construct laboratory activities and projects that develop problem-solving skills rather than rote performance. The semester project is important for achieving this objective too. The students choose a project from a list of approved ideas. While the project goals are well-defined, the means for satisfying these ends are not. Thus, the project teams must organize their efforts at determining appropriate strategies. The teams consult with the instructor throughout the semester to report progress and seek advice. However, teams are encouraged to use their own resourcefulness to plan and complete their work. Thus, it is common that different teams working on a similar project adopt different strategies and yield different products. The semester project also encourages students to learn to work productively by cooperation. Project teams, of course, are able to produce results whose scale and significance are usually greater than individual efforts. This fact alone is a better demonstration of the usefulness of computers for real-life problems and tasks. At the same time, experience of cooperative work is valuable itself, In most professions and businesses, working in groups and consensual models of cooperation are becoming more and more prevalent. We have completed pilot offerings of the revamped course and laboratories taught by the authors and several colleagues over this past year and half. ‘These pilot offerings have been extremely well-received by students based on course evaluations and informal assessment. We plan a more definitive formal assessment of the new course beginning in Fall Term, 1995, A textbook, Exploring the Digital Domain: Computer Literacy in the 21st Century, will be published by PWS in early 1996 (preliminary versions have been used/tested in our pilot course offerings), We expect to have final draft versions of the text for free distribution at the conference.ESCCC-95 BIBLIOGRAPHY Abernethy, K. and T. Allen, Exploring the Digital Domain: Computer Literacy for the 21st Century, Boston, MA: PWS Publishing Co., to appear, 1996. Bly, S., S. Harrison, and S. Irwin, "Media spaces: Bringing people together in a video, audio, and computing environment," Communications of the ACM, Vol. 36, No. 1, 1993, pp. 28-46, Burger, Jeff. The Desktop Multimedia Bible. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1992. Cates, W.M., “Fifteen principles for designing instructional hypermedia/ multimedia products,” Educational Technology, Vol. 32, No. 12, 1992, pp. 25-11. Conklin, E., "Hypertext; an introduction and survey," EEE Computer, Vol. 2, No. 9, 1987, pp. 17-41. Falk, D.R. and H. Carlson, “Learning to teach with multimedia,” 7.H.E. Journal, Vol. 20, No. 2, 1992, pp. 56-59. Francik, E., S. Rudman, D. Cooper, and S. Levine, “Putting information to work: Adoption strategies for multimedia communication systems,” Communications of the ACM, Vol. 34, No. 12, 1991, pp. 53-63. Greif, 1., Editor, Computer-Supported Cooperative Work: A Book of Readings, Morgan Kaufmann, San Mateo, CA, 1988. Hartmanis, Justis and Herbert Lin, editors. Computing the Future: A Broader Agenda for Computer Science and Engineering. Washington, D.C. : National Academy Press, 1992. Heller, R., "The role of hypermedia in education: A look at the research issues,” Journal of Research on Computing in Education, Vol. 22, No. 4, 1990, pp. 431-441. Ishii, H. and Naomi Miyake, "Toward an open shared workspace: Computer and video fusion approach of TeamWorkStation,” Communications of the ACM, Vol. 34, No. 12, 1991, pp. 37-50. Kling, R., "Cooperation, coordination, and control in computer-supported work,” ‘Communications of the ACM, Vol. 34, No. 12, 1991, pp. 83-. LaBreque, M., "The scientific uses of visualization," American Scientist, Vol. Nov.-Dec., 1989, pp. 525-527. Litchfield, B. and S. Mattson, "The interactive media science project: an inquiry-based multimedia science curriculum," Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching, Vol. 9, No. 1, 1989, pp. 37-43. Nielson, G. and B. Shriver, Editors, Visualization in Scientific Computing, IEEE Graphics Society Press, Los Alamitos, CA, 1990. Nielsen, J., "The art of navigating through hypertext," Communications of the ACM, Vol. 33, No. 3, 1990, pp. 296-310. Obraczka, Katia, Peter B. Danzig and Shih-Hao Li, "Internet resource discovery services," IEEE Computer, Vol 26, No 9, 1993, pp. 8-22. Small, R. and B. Grabowski, "An exploratory study of information seeking behaviors and learning with hypermedia information systems," Journal of Educational Multimedia and ‘Hypermedia, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1992, pp. 445-464. Steinberg, D., "Multimedia is the message," PC/Computing, September, 1990, pp. 135-151. Wallace, Gregory K. “The JPEG still picture compression standard," Communications of the ‘ACM, Vol. 34, No. 4, 1991, pp. 30-44.