Introduction to University Computing (07/03/2008)

Lecture 1

Last week, I had my first lecture and tutorial for UPC0004 Accessing Knowledge. The following were the main points of the lecture,

• Introducing computing into UPC0004
• Basic outline of what to expect throughout UPC0004
• Introduction into the modules and assignments
  
• Shown a list of student responsibilities to adhere to
• Shown a number of materials and buildings to make life at university much easier

Tutorial 1

During the tutorial, we had to show we understood the following,

• How to navigate through 'Blackboard' properly
• How to access our student email system
• Understanding the use of 'print screen'
• Create a blog to be updated throughout UPC0004 and later assessed

Week 1 Tasks

The SIMO homepage is what we use to gain information about our course. It includes our enrolment details, unit information etc. SIMO is accessable through the ECU website under 'current students'.

The student email system plays a huge part during university. Through student email, we can communicate with our peers as well as out lecturers and tutors. Using the email system is the most efficient way of contacting people throughout this course. We can email anytime of the day which is best when our peers and tutors are unavailable.

Student Blackboard is the most used part of the ECU website for students. It contains all the resources and outlines for every unit within a specific course. Blackboard has all the lecture and tutorial worksheets which are able to be printed out for our convenience. We can also find out what our grades are for a certain unit and to make sure we are up to date with everything we need to complete.

This is the ECU webpage which we must navigate through before we can search for anything to do with our course. Through the ECU webpage, we can then access Blackboard, SIMO, student email as well as anything else to do with the university, including students services and the bookshop.

Using blogger.com, we must keep an up to date log on our progress through UPC0004. Each week we must create a blog entry explaining what took place in the lecture, the tutorial and reading summaries. Each blog must have screen shots showing the activities for that week. At the end of the course (week 13), our blog will be assessed and is worth 40% of our overall mark.

Reading Summary 1: PC Lube and Tune

PC Lube and Tune is a service station and convenience store which has been in business since February 1994. PC Lube and Tune provides gas, sodas, repairs, maps and advice. Their objective is to supply a range of information for computer users eg, introductions and tutorials. A few articles available at PC Lube and Tune include,

• Ethernet - most common choice for high speed communication
• An Introduction to PC Hardware - can learn as much as you need to know about how everything works. Prior knowledge is not needed as everything is explained clearly
• Das Boot - how to plan and install operating systems on the same disk at the same time
• The Graphic User Interface - shows how this entire user interface is based on a small number of simple programming techniques.

Reading Summary 2: How Stuff Works

Every aspect of our lives involves technology. Not only computers but television, cars and appliances as well. Computers contain general hardware items eg, memory, hard disk modem etc. Some of the main components of a computer include,

• Memory - fast storage used to hold data
• Random Access Memory (RAM) - permanent memory used for the storage of important data
• Virtual Memory - space on a hard disk used to temporarily store data
• Motherboard - the main circuit board that all other internal components connect to
• Hard Disk - permanent storage used to hold programs and documents