Information Technology
Instructors: Glenn Cagle and Paul Wilson
There are three course descriptions below. It is important to emphasize that Introduction to Software Technology is a prerequisite for our Computer Science courses.
Course Descriptions
Introduction to Software Technology
This course is designed for high school students to understand, communicate, and adapt to a digital world as it impacts their personal life, society, and the business world. Exposure to foundational knowledge in hardware, software, programming, web design, IT support, and networks are all taught in a computer lab with hands-on activities and project focused tasks. Students will not only understand the concepts, but apply their knowledge to situations and defend their actions/decisions/choices through the knowledge and skills acquired in this course. Employability skills are integrated into activities, tasks, and projects throughout the course standards to demonstrate the skills required by business and industry. Competencies in the co-curricular student organization, Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), are integral components of both the employability skills standards and content standards for this course.
Various forms of technologies will be highlighted to expose students to the emerging technologies impacting the digital world. Professional communication skills and practices, problem-solving, ethical and legal issues, and the impact of effective presentation skills are taught in this course as a foundational knowledge to prepare students to be college and career ready. The knowledge and skills taught in this course build upon each other to form a comprehensive introduction to digital world.
AP Computer Science Principles
AP Computer Science Principles is the second course in the Computer Science Pathway in the Information Technology Cluster. Students enrolled in this course should have successfully completed Introduction to Digital Technology.
The AP Computer Science Principles course is designed to be equivalent to a first semester introductory college computing course. In this course, students will develop computational thinking skills vital for success across all disciplines, such as using computational tools to analyze and study data and working with large data sets to analyze, visualize, and draw conclusions from trends. The course is unique in its focus on fostering student creativity. Students are encouraged to apply creative processes when developing computational artifacts and to think creatively while using computer software and other technology to explore questions that interest them. They will also develop effective communication and collaboration skills, working individually and collaboratively to solve problems, and discussing and writing about the importance of these problems and the impacts to their community, society and the world.
During both semesters, emphasis will be placed on building computer science vocabulary from the AP CSP curriculum framework, discussion of current topics in CS, and CS theory. Vocabulary building as well as learning objective concepts and essential knowledge statements will be taught through standing class protocols incorporated into a variety of individual and cooperative learning activities.
AP Computer Science A
AP Computer Science A is the third course in the Computer Science Pathway in the Information Technology Cluster. Students enrolled in this course should have successfully completed Introduction to Digital Technology and AP Computer Science Principles.
AP Computer Science A (AP CS-A) is equivalent to a college-level introductory course in computer science. It is both a college preparation course for potential computer science majors and a foundation course for students planning to study in other technical fields such as mathematics, engineering, physics, and chemistry, just to name a few. Even some “non-technical” fields such as business and psychology require students to take an entry-level programming course. Students enrolled in this course are expected to take the Advanced Placement examination in AP CS-A in May. Students who elect not to sign up to take one of these exams will take an equivalent exam in class that will count towards the final grade.
Because the design and implementation of computer programs to solve problems are skills that are fundamental to the study of computer science, a large part of the AP CS-A course is built around the development of computer programs that correctly solve a given problem. But, computer science is more than just programming. While students should leave this class with a clear understanding of programming in general, and the Java language in particular, they should also leave with the ability to analyze problems, propose potential solutions, and determine which of those are suitable for programming. They should be able to adapt to any new programming language they encounter in college or work situations and should be able to tackle any problem solving obstacles they encounter.
AP CS-A emphasizes programming methodology, procedural abstraction, and in-depth study of algorithms, data structures, and data abstractions. Students will write their own small to medium sized programs, as well as study and modify a large case study program. The basic hardware and software components of computer science systems will be studied, as well as the responsible use of these systems. The course includes preparation for the AP CS-A exam (taken in the first or second week of May).