Computational Thinking for Information Technology

COMPUTATIONAL THINKING

FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

HOME | OBJECTIVES | WELCOME | TASK 1 | TASK 2 | TASK 3 | HELP

STUDENT SCENARIO:GREEN IT

In this scenario, you are a consultant assigned to the

Community College and University IT Services

Division. You will use killowatt meters to measure and

analyze the amount of energy that the college is using.

Andrew Redleaf will be your guide and

virtual supervisor for the lesson.


OBJECTIVESThis course will enable you to develop logical thinking skills, including:• Asking probing questions to uncover details of a problem• Clearly defining a problem• Defining clear success criteria for the project• Making design decisions based on rational criteria• Seeing the “big picture”• Deconstructing the problem into its component parts


OBJECTIVES (cont.)This course will enable you to develop logical thinking skills, including:• Correlating the relationships between components and

prior knowledge• Identifying the steps required to solve a problem• Identifying the sequence of steps including possible

decisions and alternatives• Identifying normal and exceptional behaviors of a solution• Identifying available resources


OBJECTIVES (cont.)This course will enable you to develop logical thinking skills, including:• Developing a solution that uses only available resources• Measuring and adapting the solution to optimize resource

utilization• Measuring and evaluating solutions against the success

criteria• Adjusting the design and implementation as needed


WELCOME

Expectations | About our Consulting


Hello, I’m Andrew. Welcome aboard! We’re very excited have you on our team of consultants.


Expectations

In your first months here, you will learn new

technologies, research cutting-edge

technologies, prepare documents, create and

deliver presentations, and design and

develop websites for clients.

These assignments may take you out of your

comfort zone and push you to think in new

ways. However, we are certain that the

excitement of solving these challenges will

more than make up for the difficulties you

might encounter.


We expect each of you to make the client’s

needs your priority by contributing to your

team and producing quality, finished

products on time.

We have worked hard to develop a

reputation for excellence, and are currently

the industry leader in consulting services in

information technology. We hope to be the

industry leader in the region within the next

five years. I hope you will be an integral

part of helping us reach that goal.


About our consultingWe are a premier information technology

solution provider. We specialize in providing

reliable solutions for businesses in today's

fast-paced technology world. The company is

dedicated to providing clients with the most

powerful IT products, solutions and strategies

that keep their businesses on the cutting edge

of technology.


We are committed to personal and professional

integrity, honesty, and open communications

with our clients. We seek long-term

relationships with our clients.

The Community College and University IT

(CCUIT) Division is responsible for providing

consulting services for educational institutions

systems. CCUIT is the largest division in the

company and key to the company’s success.


Your roleOur excellent reputation is spreading. As a

result, within the last year, we have seen a

surge in the number of new clients seeking

our services. In turn, this has allowed us to

hire new employees such as you to help

us to deliver these services. You have

been assigned to the Community College

and University IT Services Division. The

division is primarily responsible for

providing consulting services for

educational institutions.


Since many of the clients you will be working

for are new clients to the company, I would

like to ask you to start building a good

relationship with your client. Pay attention to

customer service skills, communicate often,

and most importantly provide your client with

finished products that are up to our standard

of excellence.

This is a fast-paced working environment. I

hope you will enjoy and be up to the

challenge.

Welcome aboard!


Ready to get started?

Task 1 awaits!


TASKS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Please complete the following tasks in sequence, paying attention to particular requirements given in the task.

There may also be guidelines for evaluation of effort, and of course that describes how your efforts will be judged.


TASK 1: ENERGY CONSUMPTION ANALYSIS

In this task, you will use killowatt meters

to measure and analyze the amount of

energy that the college is using.


Start with measurement-taking.

You will start by visiting various locations across the college

measure and record in an Excel spreadsheet data the Amps,

Watts, kWh used by various devices. You must take

measurements for each monitor you encounter, each

computer, and other devices, including but not limited to fans

and lamps. Further you will create a column in your worksheet

that uses .12 cents/kWh to calculate the cost per year of

running each device.

Note: Be sure to record the location

of the devices and the types of

devices.


Using the data you gathered, calculate the energy savings in

one year by replacing ten 15-inch CRTs with ten 15-inch LCDs.

Briefly Research the cost of 1 kWh of electricity in your

region/area/state. Take the data you gathered and use this

kWh rate to calculate annual cost for the same devices on

another worksheet within your Excel workbook. Analyze the

data gathered by using Excel’s charting functions to create a

chart comparing the cost of supplying energy to these various

devices on an annual basis.


Using the information gathered from the data analysis from

the Excel spreadsheet, create a Word document to report

your findings and to provide recommendations indicating

how the college might save money and decrease energy

consumption thereby increasing the college’s commitment

to become more sustainable. Be sure to research and

explain the concept of Cloud Computing and how it can be

used to reduce energy costs.


TASK 2: ELECTRONIC WASTE

Nice job on the energy consumption analysis.

Hopefully you now have a better

understanding of the impact of electronic

devices on energy consumption.


With this task you will be learning about electronic waste.

Electronic waste, e-waste, e-scrap, or Waste Electrical and

Electronic Equipment (WEEE) describes loosely discarded,

surplus, obsolete, or broken electrical or electronic devices.

Informal processing of electronic waste in developing

countries causes serious health and pollution problems.

Some electronic scrap components, such as CRTs, contain

contaminants such as lead, cadmium, beryllium, mercury,

and brominated flame retardants.


Even in developed countries recycling and disposal of e-

waste may involve significant risk to workers and

communities and great care must be taken to avoid unsafe

exposure in recycling operations and leaching of material

such as heavy metals from landfills and incinerator ashes.

We will visit a local electronics recycling facility to learn

about software and hardware, challenges and procedures

specific to electronic recycling, the cost and benefits to

sustainability of recycling, and the

impact to the earth of failing to

recycle these items.


During the visit you will be encouraged to ask questions and take

pictures of your visit.

After this visit, through a reflective writing piece, reflect on your experience

and what you learned at the recycling center. Use the ewaste calculator and

reflect on your ewaste and how you might be a better protector of the

environment. You may include photos of the visit.

Secondly, you are tasked to create a document in Word

recommending a policy for the disposal of outdated

computer equipment for the college,

taking into account what you have

learned on your visit and through

research you do on ewaste.


TASK 3: PRESENT YOUR FINDINGS

Congratulations on your first Green IT project. Hopefully from the last task you have a better

understanding of the cost of the energy consumption of electrical devices.


In this task, you will research Green IT as an emerging job field.

We will be participating in a Skype video conference with

George Goodman of Climate Savers Computing Initiative.

Executive Director Goodman will talk about the history of

Climate Savers Computing and what the member organizations

are doing.

Further, he will speak about the Green IT field as a career

option. Be prepared to ask him thoughtful questions to help

you complete this task.

You task is to create a PowerPoint

presentation regarding the Green IT

career field in general.


INSTRUCTOR CONTACT INFORMATION

eMail:

Phone:

Office location:

Office hours:

Other info:


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Computational Thinking for Information Technology

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