Module 3
Computers Unwrapped
Constructing 5×7 matrix displays like those used on NYC subways to show the train line – the A in this case.
These two graduate education courses are designed provide insight into how computers work. They are intended to fill a gap in computer education. Students typically learn coding without understanding codes. They are encouraged to think logically without gaining familiarity with logical relationships, nor how these are implemented in computers. Demystifying computers is both empowering and necessary to full digital literacy.
The curriculum is divided into seven major topics: circuits, codes, information, computation, communication, storage, and control. Each topic is introduced through everyday experiences with such artifacts as emojis, calculators and supermarket bar codes, as well as control systems in the human body. These lead to hands-on activities, such as translating between binary and decimal, computing in binary, examining individual pixels displayed by cell phones, detecting and correcting errors in messages and deconstructing bar codes.
Course 1 provides an overview of electricity, including LEDs, batteries and switches, and concludes by introducing schematic diagrams. Course 2 develops logic circuits, focusing on the OR, AND & XOR connections, and culminates in the design of adder circuits.
Course 1 begins with symbols, and then introduces codes as systems of symbols. Next, it focuses on number bases, and develops binary codes. In course 2, the focus shifts to fixed and floating point representations of large and small numbers, using the calculator to explore the limits of each representation
Beginning with simple examples of one-bit messages, students learn the concept of information and how it is measured. Activities includes sorting analog and digital devices, binary searches and constructing alphanumeric display schemes. Course 2 focuses on how monochrome and color images are displayed in print and on electronic screens.
Course 1 develops the basic problem of communication, and then focuses on the use of redundancy in communication, leading to parity-based methods for detecting errors. Course 2 dissects supermarket bar codes as well as error-correcting codes