Certificate in Humanities Computing for Languages, MML, University of CambridgeFaculty of Modern & Medieval Languages · University of Cambridge Site Map Applying Faculty Departments Courses Facilities Certificate in Humanities Computing for Languages Home Course Description & Evaluation CALL Facility Lecture Notes 2001-02 1: Introduction to Computer Systems 2: Operating Systems - PC and Mac 3: Operating Systems - Using Unix on Thor 4: FTP - File Transfer Protocol Course Description & Evaluation Gavin Burnage & Chris Pountain June 2001 Introduction Course Content Assessment Teaching Admissions to the course Enquiries Appendix 1: Course Content Appendix 2: Course Evaluation 2000-2001 Application form Frequently Asked Questions Introduction A Certificate course in computing related to linguistic and literary study will be running in the academic year 2001-2002: applications were due by Friday June 29th 2001, but some late applications can be considered. The course is designed to be both practical, equipping you to make full use of computing as widely as possible in study and research, as well as introducing important concepts in the use of digital technology and in Humanities Computing generally. It assumes that your Tripos and other course work will inform the computational tasks you are asked to learn and perform, and the Certificate's most successful students are those who best demonstrate the ability to combine good practice in computing with appropriately high linguistic and literary understanding. It will also equip you with transferable skills in computing, suitable for use in employment generally, and employment involving foreign languages in particular. Course Content The topics listed here constituted the pilot course in 2000-2001. The full Certificate in 2001-2002 will run in similar, with some minor modifications. A brief description of each topic is available below in Appendix 1: Course Content General Introduction Introduction to Computer Systems Operating Systems - PC and Mac Operating Systems - Using Unix on Thor FTP - File Transfer Protocol Internet Services - Using and Searching the WWW Web Page Development - Basic HTML Web Page Development II - Colour, Meta Information and Images Digital Audio Digital Video Bibliographical resources and databases Electronic text: basic concepts Using Electronic Texts Web Page Development III - Tables, Frames and Web Editors CALL software - Evaluation and Design Hypertext and Multimedia Assessment Assessment is on-going throughout the course, culminating in a large project involving appropriate application of the skills and insights gained in any area of language, literature and linguistics. All assessment work involves using one or more of the languages being studied to a level appropriate to each student's current position. There will be no formal examination paper. Assessment tasks are set for completion week by week, and the two projects fall due for submission on the first days of the Lent and Easter full terms. To be awarded the Certificate, you must Attend lectures and practical classes and satisfactorily complete assignments for a minimum of 75% of the course; Satisfy the examiners in the creation of a languages-related website which demonstrates extensive familiarity with the Web and enough insight in the stipulated subject areas to choose appropriate links and other material; a project in any field of humanities computing approved by the Faculty Board, accompanied by a report of not more than 2,000 words, which demonstrates considerable application and extension of skills in any area of the course. You may be awarded the Certificate with Credit or Distinction if, in the opinion of the examiners, your work so merits. Teaching Primary responsibility for the course lies with the CALL Officer (Gavin Burnage) in consultation with the CALL Director (Chris Pountain). Other Faculty staff will also contribute to teaching and support. Teaching takes place during the Michaelmas and Lent terms. Course notes and related resources will be available on the Faculty web site. You should expect to spend up to three hours a week working independently, and to attend one hour long lecture and a two hour practical session most weeks. Admissions to the course There is a limit of sixteen places on the course, restricted to MML students (including graduate students). Application forms are available below and from the Faculty Office, and must be submitted by Friday June 29th 2001. Late applications may be considered if space is available. Before submitting an application, you should consult your Director of Studies, whose recommendation is required as part of your application. You will also be asked to state your reasons for wanting to follow the course, and it will be to your advantage if you can demonstrate some interest in computing. Enquiries Questions about the course are welcome, and should be addressed to the CALL Officer, Gavin Burnage, either in person in room 117 of the RFB (1st floor, near the CALL Facility), by phone (35045) or by email to gb218@cus.cam.ac.uk. Appendix 1: Course Content Introduction to Computer Systems Basic computer architecture, enough to make sense of straightforward computer specifications relating to disk size, processing power, monitors and other peripherals. Operating Systems: PC and Mac Basic familiarity with one or other type of operating system: primarily Windows 95/98/NT, or Mac OS. Students should be able to start, stop, install and configure programs, and create and search for files using wildcards, and be able to compare and contrast operating systems. File formats, including plain text, rich text and Word files. Accented characters and different encoding systems, either phonetic script or Cyrillic or Modern Greek: students should know how to use accented characters and encoding systems effectively. Operating Systems: Using UNIX on THOR Introduction to UNIX using the THOR undergraduate teaching system. Students should be able to create, edit and manage directories of files on THOR. FTP - File Transfer Protocol Moving files from place to place, chiefly by means of FTP (File Transfer Protocol). Using FTP and web-based archives for the retrieval of information. Using and Searching the WWW Using a web browser. Finding language and literature resources resources on the Web; subject gateways, search engines, and search techniques, including advanced wildcard and logic-based searches. Web Page Development I - Basic HTML Basic HTML skills. Creating a simple page in "raw" HTML, and publishing it via THOR. Web Page Development II - Colour, Meta Information and Images Use of colour in web pages. The provision of information about web pages within web pages. Scanning pictures at different resolutions. Picking appropriate formats (JPEG, GIF). Simple image manipulation using Adobe Photoshop or similar. Digital Audio The basics of digital audio. The use and creation of audio files. Evaluating the use of digital audio in languages-related fields. Digital Video The basics of digital video. The use and creation of video files, including the use of Adobe Premiere and RealPlayer. Evaluating the use of digital video in languages-related fields. Bibliographical resources and databases On-line library catalogues, bibliographical databases and other local and international resources Searching skills. Electronic text: basic concepts Sources of electronic text. Mark-up conventions including SGML for items on the Internet, saving them, and adapting them into re-usable electronic text. Scanning and OCR: students should be able to use a scanner to prepare electronic text from a variety of foreign language print sources (newspapers, books, magazines). Introduction to text archives and other on-line sources of electronic text. Using electronic texts Learning intelligent use of a concordance program such as WordSmith, with self-prepared electronic texts as raw material. Introduction to text corpora and corpus linguistics, and linguistic tagging. Web Page Development III - Tables, Frames and Web Editors Using an HTML editor in the creation of web pages. The use of tables and frames within web pages. CALL software - Evaluation and Design CALL software and on-line dictionaries. Familiarity with current practice in CALL, and the advantages and disadvantages of the use of CALL. Techniques and criteria for detailed evaluation of CALL software, in terms of design and (pedagogical) content; students should be able to describe, compare and contrast (e.g.) grammar drill packages in one or more languages, and apply similar criteria to software in general. Hypertext and Multimedia Concepts in the development of multimedia computing, re-examined in the light of aspects of oral and literary tradition. Appendix 2: Course Evaluation 5 students of the 8 enroled on the Pilot course in January 2001 completed a formal evaluation as follows. Questions and Results The scores given with each question are the averaged results. Please answer the following questions using the 5-point scale shown. -2 -1 0 +1 +2 On the left, -1 is negative and -2 is really negative. On the right -1 is positive and +2 is really positive. In the centre, 0 is neutral, neither negative or positive. 1. GENERAL COURSE RATING What is your general rating of the course so far? (-2 is really bad, +2 is really good) +1.4 2. LEVEL OF CONTENT How difficult or easy have you found the content of the course? (-2 is very difficult, +2 is very easy) +0.6 3. USEFULNESS OF CONTENT How relevant and useful (in relation to the rest of your course, the year abroad, and prospective employment) is the course content? (-2 not at all relevant, +2 very relevant) +1.0 4. TEACHING AND PRESENTATION How helpful and useful has the teaching and presentation of the course been so far? (-2 is really bad/unhelpful, +2 is really good/helpful) +1.8 5. GENERAL WORKLOAD How difficult have you found it to fit this course and its workload in with the rest of your studies? (-2 very difficult, +2 very easy) +0.2 6. COURSE WORKLOAD Considering the course on its own terms (that is, regardless of the workload from your other studies), would you say there is too much or too little work each week to allow you to learn and integrate the subject matter? (-2 far too much, +2 far too little) 0.0 7. GENERAL COURSE RATING Would you reccomend the course to other MML students? (-2 definitely not reccomend, +2 highly reccomend) +1.6 Application Form The application form, plus some covering notes, is available for download here. If you have problems printing out this file (there are three pages including the covering notes), printed copies are also available from the Faculty Office. Application form in Rich Text Format Frequently Asked Questions This section will be updated as questions are raised. Can staff take part? I haven't time for the whole course - can I just come to a few lectures? Can staff take part? At present, the position is that MML academic and assistant staff are very welcome to attend the lectures for the course (in return for some constructive feedback!) The workshops, however, will be limited to student participants only: this is because up to 16 people may be involved, which is already a high number for practical classes. In addition, it may be the case that students can remain committed for the whole duration of the course, whilst for many staff, the onerous nature of their workload may inevitably curtail their involvement. In the event that the 16 designated places are not filled by the start of next academic year, this position may be revised. It would be appreciated if any staff who will be attending the lectures would inform the CALL Officer in advance. I haven't time for the whole course - can I just come to a few lectures? Sorry, no. The course evolves from one week to the next; you need to have done the previous part to make the most of the next part, building up a bank of knowledge as you go. This makes it difficult to "dip in", both for you and the regular students whose time might be compromised by the 'catch-up' questions any visitor would inevitably have. You wouldn't have access to the same facilities as the full course participants either, particularly the account on the CS machine THOR for web page creation. There are other options you can follow within the University. The Computing Service runs courses on a regular basis, and also lends books and CD-ROMs for self-study. Have a look at their web site for full details: http://www.cam.ac.uk/cs/courses/ The course notes do appear on the web from week to week, so you could read through those if you were interested; keep an eye on the main course website Gavin Burnage, CALL Officer Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages University of Cambridge Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 9DA Tel: 01223-335045 Fax: 01223-335062 Email: gb218@cam.ac.uk Last updated on · 16 October 2001 at 15:28