Last updated: 9/3/99
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General Description:
AGS 3340
Computers, the Internet, and Society

In this course, you will learn about:

• computer software, including major categories of applications
• the operation of the Internet
• personal, academic and business uses of the Internet
• the mutual interaction of computers, the Internet, and society.

The software and Internet applications include:

• Microsoft Office ’97 (word processing, spreadsheets and databases)
• Ping (locating another computer on the Internet)
• Internet email, using your free Wayne State University email account (if you have other email consistent with the lab software, you can use that email system instead)
• File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
• World Wide Web, including creating your own web page
• Computer chat and conferencing

Computers, the Internet and Society has a large on-line component. You will need an Internet connection to take this course. You can use the free Internet connection that Wayne State University offers all registered students, but any other Internet connection will also do, such as

• America On Line
• Compuserve
• Prodigy
• Mindspring
• Internet connection through other school or college
• Computer lab at Wayne State University or other school or college, connected to the Internet
• Computer at work. You should make sure that your employer approves of this usage. Note that if your employer has an intranet with a firewall, you may need a special account from your employer, to get access to the public Internet.

We will use the following Internet technologies in this course:

• Email for turning in assignments and getting them back
• World Wide Web for postings such as syllabus and assignments
• Web-based computer conferencing for class discussions

Taught over the Internet with six class meetings and final exam. Meets on Wednesdays: 9/8, 9/22, 10/13, 11/3, 12/1 and 12/22 (final exam). Keep other Wednesdays available for computer lab work.

The graduate version of this course,  ISP 5990 Section 982 Call Number 98339, involves extra reading and assignments.

May be taken with or without the course eCommerce: Using the Web to Find and Service Customers

For further information, or for questions or comments, contact the Instructor as follows:

David R. Bowen
Tel (WSU): (313) 577-1498
Tel (home): (248) 549-8518
Tel (Ford): (313) 390-2155
Email: drbowen@cll.wayne.edu

Textbooks (are at Barnes and Noble campus bookstore or can be obtained elsewhere):

1. Brian Underdahl et al, Teach Yourself Microsoft Office, IDG Books, Foster City CA. 1999.
2. Ed Kroll & Paula Ferguson, The Whole Internet for Windows 95, O’Reilly & Associates, Sebastopol CA. 1995
3. Esther Dyson, Release 2.1, Broadway Books, New York NY. 1998.
4. Thomas L. Friedman, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, NY, 1999.

I have been to the bookstore and seen all of the textbooks on the shelves. They are copies in two different sections: under AGS 3340 and under ISP 5990. It looks like general customers may be buying Dyson and Friedman. Also the enrollment is higher than I expected. So, the campus bookstore may be out of these (Dyson and Friedman). They should be available at any of the large bookstores like Borders or Barnes and Noble, or available online at www.Amazon.com

A detailed syllabus and an assignment schedule have also been posted.