Volume 6
Volume 6, Number 28 |
March 5, 2008 |
|
William VanderClock
John T. Gorgone
|
Abstract: When freshman enroll in Fundamentals of Information Systems (IS 2002.1) or Personal Productivity with IS Technology (IS 2002.PO), they have the same attitude as for any other required course: Why am I here? Why do I need to take this course? This paper presents one way in which to change this attitude and, at the same time, teach students about how to use their computer. Freshmen download “stuff”, lots of stuff, from the Internet to their computer. Over time, they become paranoid as they encounter hostile spyware, viruses, and worms. They recognize that they need technology skills to be able to maintain and protect their own machine. This paper outlines a strategy for getting freshmen involved in learning about the technology by helping them to overcome their fears. The intent is to capture their interest in information systems by providing the know how to cope with computer software maintenance, Spyware, viruses, worms, Windows updates, disk defrag, disk check and Windows disk clean. The paper describes the process used to gain their interest and includes a handbook that can be used with students everywhere.
Keywords: computer threats, maintenance, teaching the introductory course
Download this issue: ISEDJ.6(28).VanderClock.pdf (Adobe PDF, 11 pages, 592 K bytes)
Preview the contents: VanderClock.v1.txt (ASCII txt, 31 K bytes)
Recommended Citation: VanderClock and Gorgone (2008). Empowering Freshmen with Technology Skills: A Security Check Approach. Information Systems Education Journal, 6 (28). http://isedj.org/6/28/. ISSN: 1545-679X. (A preliminary version appears in The Proceedings of ISECON 2004: §3434. ISSN: 1542-7382.)