An Introduction to Computers and Languages 2012.
Well, it's almost the end of 2011, so now is the time to lay down some new foundations for SML209, Computers and Languages, 2012.
Some of you may be wondering what this course is all about, so I thought I should provide a short overview and some pointers to things you can explore in preparation for the course - assuming you manage to grab a few moments of time over Christmas and New Year!
First of all, let me try to define what this course is all about. In a nutshell, the course explores some of the areas in which computing overlaps with (or meets) language, language learning and literature. It's important at this stage to clarify what I mean by 'computing' - a brief investigation into the meaning of this word defines it as, "to determine by calculation; to reckon; to count" (Webster, 1913), and is derived from the Latin 'computare' meaning 'to count'. However, more modern usage of the word 'compute' includes the meaning of "to use a computer" (Merriam-Webster, 2011), and it is in this sense that we use the term in this course. So, this course concentrates on how we can use computers for language studies, linguistics and comparative literature.
So, what sort of things will we cover on the course?
Due to the predominance of the Internet and World-Wide-Web (here's a little task for you: find out the difference in meaning between the terms 'World-Wide-Web' and 'Internet'), we will look at how the World-Wide-Web has evolved over recent years, enabling people to access and create content (by which I mean texts, images, audio and video material). So we will examine the way websites work and are structured. We'll also look at how to create content for the web, including still images, audio material and video material (moving images), so that by the end of the course you should have good understanding of some of the fundamentals of how websites work and of how they can be used for educational purposes; and, by the end of the course, you will be able to create your own website.
So, to get you started, here a few key resources for you to explore:
1) Here is a fun and interesting interactive Google Book entitled 20 Things I Learned about Browsers and the Web. Go to the table of contents and read the first 5 things: http://www.20thingsilearned.com/table-of-things - try to answer the following questions:
i) In what way is TCP/IP a language?
ii) Why is it safer to have your data in 'the Cloud' than it is on your laptop?
iii) Give an example of a 'web app' that you use.
iv) What is JavaScript and how is it useful when you submit web forms?
v) What do web programmers use to define the layout of their pages and to make them beautiful?
vi) Which major new HTML <tag> has been introduced in HTML5?
2) On this course, you will learn a lot of HTML. To get a headstart, start the w3schools HTML Tutorial: http://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp
Well, that's it for now!
Some of you may be wondering what this course is all about, so I thought I should provide a short overview and some pointers to things you can explore in preparation for the course - assuming you manage to grab a few moments of time over Christmas and New Year!
First of all, let me try to define what this course is all about. In a nutshell, the course explores some of the areas in which computing overlaps with (or meets) language, language learning and literature. It's important at this stage to clarify what I mean by 'computing' - a brief investigation into the meaning of this word defines it as, "to determine by calculation; to reckon; to count" (Webster, 1913), and is derived from the Latin 'computare' meaning 'to count'. However, more modern usage of the word 'compute' includes the meaning of "to use a computer" (Merriam-Webster, 2011), and it is in this sense that we use the term in this course. So, this course concentrates on how we can use computers for language studies, linguistics and comparative literature.
So, what sort of things will we cover on the course?
Due to the predominance of the Internet and World-Wide-Web (here's a little task for you: find out the difference in meaning between the terms 'World-Wide-Web' and 'Internet'), we will look at how the World-Wide-Web has evolved over recent years, enabling people to access and create content (by which I mean texts, images, audio and video material). So we will examine the way websites work and are structured. We'll also look at how to create content for the web, including still images, audio material and video material (moving images), so that by the end of the course you should have good understanding of some of the fundamentals of how websites work and of how they can be used for educational purposes; and, by the end of the course, you will be able to create your own website.
So, to get you started, here a few key resources for you to explore:
1) Here is a fun and interesting interactive Google Book entitled 20 Things I Learned about Browsers and the Web. Go to the table of contents and read the first 5 things: http://www.20thingsilearned.com/table-of-things - try to answer the following questions:
i) In what way is TCP/IP a language?
ii) Why is it safer to have your data in 'the Cloud' than it is on your laptop?
iii) Give an example of a 'web app' that you use.
iv) What is JavaScript and how is it useful when you submit web forms?
v) What do web programmers use to define the layout of their pages and to make them beautiful?
vi) Which major new HTML <tag> has been introduced in HTML5?
2) On this course, you will learn a lot of HTML. To get a headstart, start the w3schools HTML Tutorial: http://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp
Well, that's it for now!
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