Higher Grade Computing Studies Communication Systems & Networks
Jump to theme... stimulus to development implications integration software levels objects and operations human computer interface	This Web page is a collection of links related to the Communications and Networks section of Higher Grade Computing Studies to support the "Stop the Web, I Want to Get On!" day organised by the Business and Computer Education Division of the University of Strathclyde. It focuses on the six themes which run through the Higher. However these should be seen as a starting point for exploring the issues. Remember, if at any point you come across a Computing term you do not understand, you can look it up in the On-line Computing Dictionary.
	Stimulus to development What are the factors which led to the development of the Internet and the World Wide Web? Various beginners guides to the Internet contain history sections which will help you with this theme. Here are a few to get you started: The Big Dummies Guide to the Internet - describes itself as, "A round trip through Global Networks, Life in Cyberspace, and Everything." A Guide to Cyberspace - a document describing what the Web is, and how to use it. What is the Internet? - a chapter from an NCET publication called Highways for Learning The World-Wide Web: Origins And Beyond gives a good introduction to the origins of the World Wide Web.
	Implications What are the consequences of the use of the Internet and the World Wide Web? Some of the general guides given in the list above may touch on implications. The list below highlights some other possible starting points: There are links from EdWeb to a number of resources which discuss the impact of the Internet on Education. The Conclusion - a chapter in The Big Dummies Guide to the Internet gives a view on the implications for society. (See also Social Contracts, Reciprocity, and Gift Economies in Cyberspace from the same source.) Making the best use of the Internet - a guide published by the CCTA, the Government Centre for Information Systems, discusses implications relating to security and the data protection act in a chapter called Issues relating to the use of the Internet. The Electronic Frontier Foundation - is a non-profit civil liberties organisation working in the public interest to protect privacy, free expression, and access to online resources and information.
	Integration What degree of integration has been achieved? At its heart the Internet is about integration! How is that different computers, with different operating systems, connected to networks in different countries can be linked to allow the exchange of information and the sharing of resources? It is possible because of the existence of gateways, protocols (for example TCP/IP) and standards. Start by looking up the terms highlighted above in the On-line Computing Dictionary. You may also find the following useful: The Internet Protocol - a section from the EdWeb introduction to the Information Superhighway debate. If a device can generate data using the appropriate protocols, it may be possible to allow this device to communicate with the Internet. This has led to a large number of unusual devices being connected to the Internet.
	Software levels How can the World Wide Web demonstrate different levels of software? Very little is obvious to the browser, but to the developer of Web pages the different levels become more obvious. Creating simple point and click pages is quite straight forward, however more interactive methods of using the Web can involve programming with a specialised high level language. The progression from structured text, interactive forms and then to a full scripting language illustrate a progression through different software levels The language used to describe Web pages is a HyperText Markup Language (HTML). Look at a guide to creating HTML documents. Interaction more sophisticated than point and click is possible by using forms. One of the most recent additions is Java - a scripting language.
	Objects and operations The facilities available on the Internet can be analysed in terms of objects and operations. The low level approach to this theme would be to consider objects such as bits, bytes and packets. Operations could include encoding, conversion and error detection. Look up the terms highlighted in the On-line Computing Dictionary. Text, graphics and hypertext are examples of higher level objects which are supported by the World Wide Web. The most obvious operation that can be performed on hypertext is it can be clicked. However if you press and hold the mouse button on a link like this - hypertext object - you will see a pop-up menu of operations. Press on hold on a graphic and you get a different set of operations. For example, press and hold on this object - A demonstration of hypertext and common objects is given in the What is hypertext and hypermedia? chapter of the Guide to Cyberspace.
Jump to theme... stimulus to development implications integration software levels objects and operations human computer interface	Human Computer Interface The design of the World Wide Web's Human Computer Interface is intended to make it easy to access large amounts of information, in a variety of formats, held on a range of computer systems. The World Wide Web defines a method of describing information and transporting it over the Internet, it is the browser programs on the client machines which define the way it looks and the way it is accessed. For example compare a text based interface of with a Graphical User Interface such as Netscape Navigator. An example of a text based interface is Lynx - Log in as: info After the initial message is displayed, type www then start the lynx browser program and finally enter vt200 as the terminal type. Once Lynx has started, type G and then enter the Uniform Resource Locator for this page (shown below): http://homepages.strath.ac.uk/~cjbs17/Themes.html Also you could look at: Guidelines for Multimedia on the Web - an introduction to the implications for the Human Computer Interface of the Web as standards emerge which make it more interactive. HCI on the Web - an academic discussion of issues concerned with HCI in relation to the World Wide Web.
	This page was first created on 7 December 1995. It was last updated on 27 February 1998 by David Muir Please e-mail comments to d.d.muir@strath.ac.uk Opinions expressed in this web page are not necessarily those of the University of Strathclyde. The use of any copyright terms or material is not a challenge to the ownership of those materials. If you think any part of this web page contains discriminatory and/or offensive material, please mail d.d.muir@strath.ac.uk Disclaimer This site includes links to pages beyond the authors' control for the convenience of this site's users. The authors assume no responsibility for the content of pages accessed by means of these external links. Since web sites frequently change, no guarantee can be made regarding the accuracy of the description of these links. In addition, some of the linked pages may have moved or disappeared. If you discover an in-accurate link on these pages, please notify me by sending a message to d.d.muir@strath.ac.uk.