Outstanding Sites

Oregon State University Open Source Lab

• Oregon State University Open Source Lab

The Oregon State University Open Source Lab is a global, world-class facility and data center for Open Source Software (OSS) knowledge, hosting, infrastructure, development, and collaboration. The Open Source Lab fosters the development of unique OSS products, as well as directly assists in the development, implementation, and use of targeted OSS solutions for use in education, research, government, and business. By working closely with the OSU community, other universities, governments, and private sector business, the OSU Open Source Lab is quickly becoming a critical worldwide center for services related to Open Source software.

OSL Vision and Mission
OSL Home Page

MIT's OpenCourseWare

• MIT's OpenCourseWare

MIT's OpenCourseWare is a free and open educational resource for faculty, students, and self-learners around the world. OCW supports MIT's mission to advance knowledge and education, and serve the world in the 21st century. It is true to MIT's values of excellence, innovation, and leadership.

MIT OCW:

• Is a publication of MIT course materials
• Does not require any registration
• Is not a degree-granting or certificate-granting activity
• Does not provide access to MIT faculty

Being Fluent with Information Technology

• Being Fluent with Information Technology

(The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.)

This report focuses on what an individual must know and understand about information technology in order to use it effectively and productively for his or her own purposes. There are at least four broad categories of rationale motivating an understanding of information technology: personal, workforce, educational, and societal.

Generally, "computer literacy" has acquired a "skills" connotation, implying competency with a few of today's computer applications, such as word processing and e-mail. Literacy is too modest a goal in the presence of rapid change, because it lacks the necessary "staying power." As the technology changes by leaps and bounds, existing skills become antiquated and there is no migration path to new skills. A better solution is for the individual to plan to adapt to changes in the technology. This involves learning sufficient foundational material to enable one to acquire new skills independently after one's formal education is complete.

This requirement of a deeper understanding than is implied by the rudimentary term "computer literacy" motivated the committee to adopt "fluency" as a term connoting a higher level of competency. People fluent with information technology (FIT persons) are able to express themselves creatively, to reformulate knowledge, and to synthesize new information. Fluency with information technology (i.e., what this report calls FITness) entails a process of lifelong learning in which individuals continually apply what they know to adapt to change and acquire more knowledge to be more effective at applying information technology to their work and personal lives.