Roadmap to Computing – Interactive Courseware and On-Line Resources Introducing Computing Facilities at UBC

Ian Cavers, Instructor, Computer Science, Faculty of Science
George Tsiknis, Instructor, Computer Science, Faculty of Science / Co-Principal Investigator
Glendon Holst, Graduate Student, Computer Science, Faculty of Science
Mik Kersten, Student, Computer Science
Anthony Li, Student, Computer Science

The main objective of this proposal is the continuation of the development of an extensive series of interactive, self-paced, web-based courses and associated documentation, providing hands-on experience with the campus computing facilities and tools through on-line tutorials and interactive exercises. Our main goals include:

• To expand the existing program with two new sets of courses: one set intended for a broad and general audience introducing the basic concepts of Word Processing, Spreadsheet calculations, Databases, Presentation Graphics and Web Publishing; a second set of courses presenting the advanced topics of Object-Oriented Programming, the programming languages Java and C, and two of the most popular scripting languages used in Web-based multimedia documents.
• To eliminate scheduling problems, we have with a traditional help desk and to expand upon its existing services, we propose to create a virtual Electronic Help Desk. The EHD will include an integrated bulletin board system and a series of hierarchical FAQs.
• To set up and run our own WebCT course server so that we can improve the registration process and create tools that allow students to customize their course pages to suit their particular needs.
• To design Quick Reference Guides for some of the introductory and advanced courses.
• To update the existing reference manuals and create additional on-line reference materials.

Ian Cavers, Instructor, Computer Science, Faculty of Science
George Tsiknis, Instructor, Computer Science, Faculty of Science / Co-Principal Investigator
Glendon Holst, Graduate Student, Computer Science, Faculty of Science
Mikoway Kersten, Researcher, Xerox PARC / Computer Science Graduate
George Henderson, Student, Computer Science
Dean Stevenson, Student, Computer Science
James Bong, Electrical and Computer Engineering Graduate

Roadmap to Computing provides essential orientation and educational services to the UBC community. We help students, staff, and faculty make the best use of information technology and computing resources. We help students, staff, and faculty make the best use of information technology and computing resources. We help develop fundamental computing skills and provide hands-on experience with the campus computing technology using an extensive documentation covering the gamut of user needs from novice to advanced, end user to developer, Internet to applications, operating systems to programming tools, publishing to presentation, information search to communication, and more.

To keep our materials relevant and make our services even more useful and accessible, we propose continued development in the following areas:

• Polish existing courses and add new lessons. Incorporate more interactive material and self quizzes. Update courses to reflect new technologies where appropriate.
• Develop a new course on computer security and privacy. Include how to protect computers and personal data from damage and unauthorized access when connected to the Internet. Create relevant links, A pre-indexed reference of useful external resources. Create interactive course for the Microsoft Access database.
• Create Fast Facts, a searchable database to provide the fastest access to relevant courses, information, and links to outside web resources. Provide and maintain electronic bulletin board to enhance communication between the Roadmap Help Desk and the user community. This will also make existing information more accessible.
• Increase community awareness and extend our outreach programs. Supplementing our existing advertising, we will promote our services to department heads, instructors, and students (both secondary and post-secondary) as a fast track to the core competencies required for academic success.
• Expedite development of authoring and presentation tools such as our ATLAS (Advanced Teaching and Learning Academic Server), to support faster development of interactive materials, allow easier maintenance to keep material current, and provide students with dynamic customization control over course information and presentation. Update project procedures to ensure smooth handover of project to new team members.