Networked Computing:
Storage, Communication, and Processing
New: The team at open.michigan has produced a very nice Open Courseware version of SI502 at:
https://open.umich.edu/education/si/si502-winter2009
New: Course materials you can use if you are teaching a similar course: (Download). Some of these materials support my Python for Informatics free text book.
About the Course
This course is a survey course covering a broad range of technology topics at a high level. The course is aimed at students with no prior technical skills other than the general use of a computer. Really! When you look at the topics - they may seem daunting - but the entire design of the course is focused on student mastery of the topics. We want you to succeed in the course and then use the knowledge you learn to do many wonderful things in the rest of your academic and professional career.
The material is covered slowly and thoroughly with each important concept reinforced in lecture, discussion, podcast, and assignment.
The course is roughly broken into thirds:
- Programming and Computer Architecture
- Networking and the Internet
- Advanced Topics
Experience in the course indicates that students who have no prior experience can do quite well in the course and find it very enjoyable. Students who find SI502 challenging tend to be students that are taking a heavy course load and are trying to fit the SI502 work in a few hours per week. All students must invest time to learn the material in the course.
Place Out Examination
We provide a placement test to allow students who have extensive prior experience to skip SI502. The placement test covers the topics of the course. We give the placement some time before each semester.
Frequently Asked Questions
This section will be updated as questions and issues come up and you ask more questions :).
- What computer skills are required for the course?
The ability to use basic software, edit files, and install programs on your computer is all that is needed. The pace of the course is designed for students with no prior programming experience. - Will I have to buy any software?
No - everything you will use is free and you can keep the software and use it as long as you would like. - Should I have a laptop?
You should have a laptop and bring it to the discussion section. Particularly when there is an assignment that requires you to do something technical. If you do not have a laptop, you will need to watch any demonstrations carefully, taking notes, and then redoing the demonstrations on your own or a lab computer. This is generally *not fun* because you are doing the work without anyone to ask for help when some weird dialog box pops up. - The course is full - How can I get into the course?
We have expanded the course in the past - come to the first lecture period and put your name on a list. Once we get a sense of the number of insterested students, we can make some decisions about expanding the course. We do not expand the course before the first day of the course unless it is done in concert with a strong recommendation from the SI advising office.
Open Educational Resources
To the extent possible the course materials will be published in an open way to that people who are not registered for the course can follow the course as it progresses and use the materials to independently learn the material.
Feel free to view the Public Course Resources or the public Course Web Site.