fandomhigh | [Computer Science - Week 9, 4th Period]

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computer science

[Computer Science - Week 9, 4th Period]

The Computer Science classroom had a note on the door directing students to the Journalism classroom today. As everyone filed in, they could see it was a fairly normal classroom except for the large screen that dominated the wall at the front of the room. A desk sat before that and Logan was leaning against it, waiting until everyone had taken a seat (each desk furnished with its own laptop) before speaking.

"Hi, guys," he began, smiling at the students. "I'm Logan Cale. I'm the Media Studies teacher and, since Professor Flynn has taken unexpected leave of us, I'm now the Computer Science teacher as well.

"I reviewed what information I could find about the previous semester, but unfortunately I wasn't left with a lesson plan," Logan said apologetically. "So it looks like we really are starting from scratch. Welcome to the new semester and a new start!"

He smiled and stood up to hand a random student a clipboard with a piece of paper. "If you guys wouldn't mind, let's start by signing in, then we'll do some introductions. I'd like to know what experience levels you guys are at, or what you might be interested in learning specifically."

Moving back to the front of the class as the board was passed around, Logan spread his hands. "As for me, I have my degree in Journalism, but I've always had an interest in computers. I'm from a few years in the future in relation to Fandom, but things haven't really progressed too much beyond what's considered normal at this time. My particular forte at home is cyberjournalism - spreading information through electronic means," he explained. "I've been building computers and programming for about ten years now, so while I don't have a degree in the subject, I have a lot of practical experience.

"For this class, we'll be learning about computers, their applications and uses in the world at large and how they affect people personally, and how computers function - how detailed we get will depend on you guys and what makes sense for you to be learning given your current understanding of computers."

When the board returned to the front of the room, he collected it and went to sit on his desk once more. "So who wants to start us off? Tell me your name, where and when you're from, and tell me what, if any, experience you have with computers. After that, we can move on to something else."

[OOC: OCD ~~to follow shortly~~ is up! If you guys could at the least do your introductions, that would be awesome - I and Logan would really like to do some classes that actually do something for y'all. Thanks!]

[Syllabus/Attendance]

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Your name all collapsey plz.

Marco

Cindy Mackenzie.

Naomi Wildman

Rikku

Marty Blank

Nova

Henry Jekyll

If you can talk quietly, go for it.

Mac had her laptop open and was taking her notes on it while Logan talked.

She might've also been finishing off tailoring some code in a second window. She likes to multitask.

Naomi quietly took notes during the lecture.

Your name, when and where you're from, and your computer experience.

"I'm Naomi Wildman," Naomi introduced herself, "I'm from San Francisco, California 2381. I'm mostly experienced with 24th Century computer technology but I've started to learn the basics for 21st Century computers,"

"Thank you, Naomi. If I might ask, what are 24th Century computers like?" Logan asked, curious.

Naomi thought about her response for a bit before she replied, "well human computers are considerably advanced technology wise even though compared to some other species they pale in comparison,"

He nodded a moment, then did a double take. "Other species? As in, on earth or elsewhere?"

"Elsewhere," Naomi replied, "where I'm from Earth's been aware of other life forms since the late 21st century,"

Mac gave basically the same introduction she remembers giving the last time she was asked to tell someone about herself. It was an old standby that worked perfectly well for her.

"I'm Mac and I'm from present day California," she started. "And I have quite a lot of experience with computers. It's kinda my thing."

"Thanks, Mac," Logan said, smiling. "My notes say that you were the TA for this class, right?"

Mac nodded, smiling back at Logan. "That's me," she said. "So, anything I can do to help out, just say."

"I appreciate that," he said sincerely. "So how long do you think you've been working with computers? Have a favorite operating system?"

"I like what I know, so OS X," Mac replied. "I probably first started with computers way back when I was seven or so, but only really started getting into it a few years later."

Rikku stood up and waved. "Hi! I'm Rikku, and I'm from Spira, but I think I'm from now. Spira doesn't have computers but we have other kinds of machina - uh, machines, sorry - but most of them aren't really advnace. I'd really love to take one of the cases off and just start tinkering with the wires but nobody else really thinks that's a good idea."

"As long as it's unplugged, I don't see why," Logan said. "It's a good way to learn how everything connects inside."

Rikku grinned and began bouncing. "Really? You mean it? I mean, I think they thought I'd break things, because these are kind of expensive, and I can't always put things back together when I take them apart." She scratched her head. "Well, I can, but I usually have some parts left over. But you can always use those to make new things, you know?"

After introductions were done, Logan directed everyone to open the laptops that sat in front of them.

"They're all turned on and should have a browser open to a page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science) on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org), which is a collection of user-provided information and data on the internet. We'll go over what that is and what it means later, but if you'd read through that page a bit, you'll see why were aren't learning Computer Science as they do in a college or university setting." He grinned. "It's a bit complicated than most of us are up to, but there are some concepts we can still learn in this class.

"Once you've read - or skimmed - the information, I'll take whatever questions you might have."

Mac started looking over the article while Logan talked. She... actually didn't think it sounded that complecated.

She'll probably be researching some of those concepts later, just for the hell of it. Not like she doesn't have the free time right now.

Naomi read through the information thoroughly.

Rikku stared at the page, willing the first sentence to make sense. She skipped it and moved on, and luckily the page lapsed back into English.

After skimming it a few times she put her hand up. "I have questions, but I kinda don't, because I don't know how to word any of it. What exactly do computers do? I know they can do a lot of things, and some people say pretty much anything, but that doesn't help me."

She shrugged. "Like, okay, if you have a group of people somewhere, and you give them a computer, what does it do for them? What changes? Or isn't it that kind of thing at all?"

"A computer is, simply, a machine that manipulates data according to a list of instructions," Logan said, then thought about her question a moment, crossing his arm over his chest. "What it can do for a person depends on their capabilities, mostly. The personal computer, which we're focusing on, has a user interface - usually a monitor and keyboard - through which you can communicate the data that needs to be manipulated. In turn, the computer changes the data into information that can be used in a lot of different ways."

Logan gestured to the laptop in front of Rikku, smiling. "That's a laptop, a personal computer that's intended to be easily portable. A person would buy it to play computer games on, write term papers using the word processing program, access the internet, or to do graphics work using Photoshop or a similar program. There's a lot of different applications for a computer - some people say endless, and at least from what I know, their usefulness has yet to be quantified."

Direct your questions here or come talk to him after class, since he'll be sticking around a while.

Anything else?

just making sure you know, Ami is in this class, but in a coma... same for next week.

Thanks for the reminder! :)

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[Computer Science - Week 9, 4th Period]

Sign In

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During the lecture

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Introductions

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Assignment

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Talk to Logan

OOC

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