From computer literacy to cyber-literacy
Evelyn Stiller, Cathie LeBlanc · Journal of computing sciences in colleges · 2006
As part of a major change in our general education program, our institution has shifted the focus of our traditional non-majors computing course. We have replaced the Introduction to Computers course, which focuses on computer literacy, with a course called Web Expressions, which focuses on cyber-literacy. This shift in focus involves major pedagogical and conceptual changes which we think are more suited to today's technology and societal needs than the traditional course. This shift comes at a time when computing departments face a general loss of enthusiasm toward computing as a major. We are finding that the new course has excited students about technology in ways that our old course never did. We are hopeful that the new course will be useful in recruiting new students to the discipline. In this paper, we present details about the course as well as some of the motivating factors behind the changes we have made.