A1 — Setup and the history of computing

Decide how to keep track of your course work and think about the impact of technologies on your life.

Due Sep 2, 2026

Estimated time to complete (just the assignment, excluding the prep materials): 30–60 minutes.

Remember that the assignment depends on the course preparation materials, which are published in the Schedule.

What to do

For all of the questions below, do the thinking first, and then write down your answer in a few sentences. Submit all your answers to Assignment 1 on Brightspace.

  1. Decide how you will keep track of your course work and deadlines, and pick some tools to help you do that (examples: physical or digital task list, calendar). Name your tools and describe your process for keeping track of your work.

  2. For this course, we want you to keep track of how much time you spend on all course related activities (including classes, prep materials, assignments). Ideally, you will have a separate record for prep materials and assignments, but at the very least, keep track of the total time spent on this course. Name the tool you will use to keep track of your time.
    Note: each week, you will be asked to submit an anonymous survey about the time spent on the course and your estimate for how much of the weekly workload you completed. This will help us maintain reasonable workload levels.

  3. Name one thing you did not understand in the course preparation materials. There will probably be many such things—pick any one of them.

  4. Using the class preparation materials as a reference, pick a figure in computing that you would like to know more about. Who is it? Why?

  5. Think about computer-related technologies that you encounter in your daily life (you can use the class preparation materials for inspiration). Pick two that you think might be having the biggest impact on your life and explain why.

Grading

Graded for completion. We will read your responses.