Computers in society—a course description, purpose and rationale

  • Authors:
  • Hans E. Lee

  • Affiliations:
  • -

  • Venue:
  • SIGCSE '72 Proceedings of the second SIGCSE technical symposium on Education in computer science
  • Year:
  • 1972

Quantified Score

Hi-index 0.02

Visualization

Abstract

Irrespective of one's personal position on the role of computers in society, it is indeed desirable that all college graduates in the coming years have a realistic even though minimal understanding of how computers work and how they may be directed to implement and maintain almost any desired social system. Consequently, the primary purpose of this course on computers in society is to give an elementary but sound fundamental understanding of how computers work, what they can do, what applications of computer technology currently exist or are now in research consideration, and the relationships of these applications to the role of man in society. Thus, the course is conceived as a citizen's social problems course in which much of the time will be devoted to documentation of the claim that society is undergoing a computer revolution and to illumination of this position by the presentation of several problem areas resulting from computer applications.