This series of labs is a little bit like traditional labs, where you perform experiments and record the results. This series is also different from other labs because for most of these exercises there are no ˇ°rightˇ± answers. The answers will depend on you - who you are, your life experiences, and what is important to you. These labs are meant to help you understand other perspectives on technology, to get hands-on experience with some tools, and to think about what it means to live in a world where more and more of what you do on a daily basis involves using technology.
All the labs in this series are set up the same way, so once you have gone through one, you'll know what to expect in the others. The pages are kept simple, so you can focus on the tasks you need to accomplish and not the interface. They are written in simple HTML with CSS, so you can look at the source and easily see what is happening behind the scenes.
Each lab will have an introduction, like this one. After that, a section called ˇ°To consider:ˇ± will give you some things to think about before you begin. Next are the exercises, which start with an introduction followed by a section called ˇ°Learning moreˇ± that has the exercises themselves. Finally, the section called ˇ°Moving onˇ± gives a summary of some of the concepts covered in the lab.
Many of these labs won't need anything but you and a computer that has access to the internet, but some will need additional tools. Trying out other web browsers, writing with a text editor, even editing sound are possible with no cost to you. The list of links below will point you to these resources. Some require downloading and installation, and others are entirely browser-based. Where it applies, the operating system or web browser an application is built for is noted. Finally, if you are a tablet user, you may find that you can work through many of these labs with a combination of apps you have already installed or are freely available, browser-based tools, and a physiical keyboard for more easily writing code.
Having trouble seeing an image or reading a file? Freely available viewer IrfanView can process a large number of file formats, including video and audio files.
These free tools are just some of the useful resources you can use not only to complete labs and exercises for Fluency with Information Technology, but also to complete tasks in other areas of your life. These tools and related ones are easy to find on the Web using search strategies that help pinpoint what you are looking for. Are you looking for a tool or reseource you are having trouble finding? Search, search engines, and search strategies are covered in greater detail elsewhere in the book, labs, and exercises. Finally, whether it is information you get, a tool you download and use, or skills you develop, the things you learn and discover throughout this course can be used wherever they come in handy. Now, let's get started!