Description:
As the foundation course for the ITI major, Information Technology and Informatics provides students with an overview of the key theoretical and professional themes across the entire ITI curriculum. Theoretical emphasis is placed on social informatics, human-computer interaction, management of information technology, the relationship between technology, race and gender, and information intelligence. Practical emphasis is placed on the effective and ethical use of information technologies including the World Wide Web, and on the development of critical thinking and problem solving skills appropriate for the workplace. This course provides an understanding of the concepts, culture, and underpinnings of the professions that encompass information technology and Informatics in society today.
This course fulfills the SAS Permanent Core Curriculum learning goal I.c.: 21stcentury challenge – analyze the relationship that science and technology have to a contemporary social issue.
Learning Objectives:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
- Describe the factors that shape the relationship between "information and technology" and people, such of the organization of information, information technology design, and user experience.
- Compare the "First and Second Machine Ages" in the history of information technology.
- Identify major interdisciplinary information technology theories, ranging from technological determinism to the social construction of technology, and apply those perspectives to real-world examples.
- Identify and analyze current and emerging information technologies and their implications to society in social, cultural, economic, and/or political environments.
- Demonstrate digital fluency skills to effectively and ethically research and evaluate information, discover meaning, design content and construct knowledge using information technologies, and/or communicate ideas in a digitally connected world.
- Identify the role that data-driven decision making, economics, management, and regulations play in the implementation and use of information technology in organizational computing.