Hands-On Computing:
Making Your Home Computer Work For You In Five Easy Steps

Project Challenge, Spring 2006

Project Challenge is a program in the winter months that brings area high school students to campus on Saturday mornings for 5 weeks to study a course of their choice. In the Spring Semester 2006, a course was offered in the Clarkson University Internet Teaching Laboratory (ITL) called "Hands-On Computing: Making Your Home Computer Work For You In Five Easy Steps." This course will be taught by Dr. Jeanna Matthews and assisted by graduate students Todd Deshane, Patty Jablonski, and Gary Hamilton.
Official Course Description

• Class Topics
  
  
  • Day 1 - Overview, Network Trace Analysis, Security
  • Day 2 - Databases and SQL
  • Day 3 - PHP and HTML Webpages
  • Day 4 - Linux, Programming, and Open Source
  • Day 5 - Take Apart Computer, Install OS, Live CDs, VMs, and Set Up A (Wireless) Home Network
  
  
• Day 1 - Overview, Network Trace Analysis, Security
  The students learned about network tracing and network security.
  
  
• Day 2 - Databases and SQL
  The students learned about organizing data and designing, implementing, and querying databases.
  
  
• Day 3 - PHP and HTML Webpages
  The students built their own webpages in HTML and used PHP to connect to a database.
  They also learned how to create HTML forms and how to edit pictures using the GIMP.
  See the Student Webpages, Student Pictures. (We didn't get to teach PHP or HTML forms this time).
  
  
• Day 4 - Linux, Programming, and Open Source
  The students learned about Linux, programming languages, and open source software. We watched the movie "Pirates of Silicon Valley", which is about the beginning of Microsoft (Bill Gates) and Apple (Steve Jobs).
  
  
• Day 5 - Take Apart Computer, Install OS, Live CDs, VMs, and Set Up A (Wireless) Home Network
  The students learned about the inside of a computer, operating system installation, Live CDs, virtual machines, and (wireless) network setup. We also had a tour of Clarkson's Network Operations Center (NOC).
  
  
• Consider a Career in Computer Science!
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  Bill Gates on the shortage of computer science graduates
  Gates frustrated that more U.S. students are not going into computer science
  Relevance of computer science to all other fields of study