Electives

Computers are an integral part of many of our lives and help us to accomplish many different tasks. Computer science careers are one of the fastest growing careers in the world and certainly in the United States. Educating students about careers in computer science is beneficial to both students and our global marketplace.

In this course students will see and experience much of what computer scientists do. They will start programming in the first unit and continue throughout the course. They will also explore the hardware and software that make computers work.

Projects are assigned throughout the course that allow students to not only write programs, but to design networks, plan a mobile app for a smartphone, analyze big data, and more. Students who complete the course will know how to address accessibility issues to make the Internet accessible to all, how to help protect themselves from security threats, make informed decisions based on ethical and legal issues, and learn skills to use when working with a diverse team. Not only will students explore the wide spectrum of computer science careers, but they will also survey the history of computers and explore emerging technologies and issues.

Topics Discussed:

• Computer Science Then and Now
• Hardware and Software
• Computational Thinking
• Control Structures and Data Types
• Classes, Analyzing Data, and Arrays
• Programming Algorithms
• Design and Development
• Laws and Security
• Ethics
• Applications