Online courses directory (147)

Learn the latest social media tips, tricks and techniques all catered to maximising your ROI on social media.

As the world's data grow exponentially, organizations across all sectors, including government and not-for-profit, need to understand, manage and use big, complex data sets—known as big data...

Though we may not recognize them in our everyday activities, databases are everywhere.  They are hidden behind your online banking profile, airline reservation systems, medical records, and even employment records.  This course will provide students with a general overview of databases, introducing you to database history, modern database systems, the different models used to design a database, and Structured Query Language (SQL), which is the standard language used to access and manipulate databases.   Many of the principles of database systems carry to other areas in computer science, especially operating systems.  Databases are often thought of as one of the core computer science topics, since many other areas in the discipline have been derived from this area.

Software engineering is a discipline that allows us to apply engineering and computer science concepts in the development and maintenance of reliable, usable, and dependable software. The concept of software engineering was first discussed at the 1968 NATO Science Committee in Germany. Today, many practitioners still debate over the term software engineering, often arguing that this discipline does not meet the criteria of engineering; rather, it should be called software development. There are several areas to focus on within software engineering, such as design, development, testing, maintenance, and management. Software development outside of the classroom is a very complex process, mostly because real-world software is much larger and more complex. The purpose of this course is to present software engineering as a body of knowledge. The course is designed to present software engineering concepts and principles in parallel with the software development life cycle. The course will begin with an introducti…

If you are a student wanting to learn C programming, or an adult learner simply researching C programming courses, this free introductory course is for you.<br /><br />The C programming language is one of the most popular and widely used programming languages. It is a general-purpose programming language and there are very few computer systems in existence that are not set up for its use (i.e. where a C compiler does not exist).<br /><br />This C programming tutorial and course introduces you to the basics of programming in C. You will learn how programming languages work with data, what program flow is, and how to use functions, methods and routines. You will also get step-by-step instructions on how to create simple C programs and how to run them all while you learn C programming. <br />

In the first unit, we will learn the mechanics of editing and compiling a simple program written in C++.  We will begin with a discussion of the essential elements of C++ programming: variables, loops, expressions, functions, and string class.  Next, we will cover the basics of object-oriented programming: classes, inheritance, templates, exceptions, and file manipulation.  We will then review function and class templates and the classes that perform output and input of characters to/from files.  This course will also cover the topics of namespaces, exception handling, and preprocessor directives.  In the last part of the course, we will learn some slightly more sophisticated programming techniques that deal with data structures such as linked lists and binary trees. This course contains a number of sample programs and review exercises.  Through these exercises, students should better learn how to write functions, use the string class, and write elementary data structures such as linked lists and bina…

This course is an upper division computer science course that studies the design of programming languages. While most of the industry uses either procedural or object-oriented programming languages, there are entire families of other languages with certain strengths and weaknesses that make them attractive to a variety of problem domains.  It is important to know about these less well-known yet powerful languages if you find yourself working in an area that could utilize their strengths.  In this course, we will discuss the entire programming language family, starting with an introduction to programming languages in general and a discussion of the features and functionality that make up the modern programming language.  From there, each unit will discuss a different family of programming languages, including Imperative, Object-Oriented, Functional, Scripting, and, Logical. For each language, you will learn about its computational model, syntax, semantics, and pragmatic considerations that shape the langua…

How have humans protected their secret messages through history? What has changed today?. What is Cryptography?. Probability Space. The Caesar Cipher. Caesar Cipher Exploration. Frequency Fingerprint Exploration . Polyalphabetic Cipher. Polyalphabetic Exploration. The One-Time Pad. Perfect Secrecy Exploration. Frequency Stability. Coin flip sequences. Frequency Stability Exploration. The Enigma Encryption Machine (case study). Perfect Secrecy. Pseudorandom Number Generators. Random Walk Exploration. Ciphers vs. Codes. Shift Cipher. Caesar cipher encryption. Caesar Cipher Decryption. Caesar cipher frequency analysis. Vigenere cipher encryption. XOR Bitwise Operation. XOR & the One-Time Pad. XOR Exploration. Bitwise Operators. What's Next?. The Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic. Public Key Cryptography: what is it?. The Discrete Logarithm Problem. Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange. RSA Encryption: step 1. RSA Encryption: step 2. RSA Encryption: step 3. Time Complexity (Exploration). Euler's Totient Function. Euler Totient Exploration. RSA Encryption: step 4. What should we learn next?. What is Modular Arithmetic?. Modulo Operator. Congruence Modulo. Congruence Relation. Equivalence Relations. The Quotient Remainder Theorem. Modular Addition & Subtraction. Modular Addition. Modular Multiplication. Modular Multiplication. Modular Exponentiation. Fast Modular Exponentiation. Fast Modular Exponentiation. Modular Inverses. Introduction. Primality Test Challenge. Trial Division. Level 1: Primality Test. Running Time. Level 2: measuring running time. Computer Memory (space). Binary Memory Exploration. Algorithmic Efficiency. Level 3: Challenge. Sieve of Eratosthenes. Level 4: Sieve of Eratosthenes. Primality Test with Sieve. Level 5: Trial division using sieve. The Prime Number Theorem. Prime density spiral. Prime Gaps. Time Space Tradeoff. Summary (what's next?). Randomized Algorithms (intro). Conditional Probability (Bayes Theorem) Visualized. Guess the coin. Random Primality Test (warm up). Level 9: Trial Divison vs Random Division. Fermat's Little Theorem. Fermat Primality Test. Level 10: Fermat Primality Test. What's Next?. What is Cryptography?. Probability Space. The Caesar Cipher. Caesar Cipher Exploration. Frequency Fingerprint Exploration . Polyalphabetic Cipher. Polyalphabetic Exploration. The One-Time Pad. Perfect Secrecy Exploration. Frequency Stability. Coin flip sequences. Frequency Stability Exploration. The Enigma Encryption Machine (case study). Perfect Secrecy. Pseudorandom Number Generators. Random Walk Exploration. Ciphers vs. Codes. Shift Cipher. Caesar cipher encryption. Caesar Cipher Decryption. Caesar cipher frequency analysis. Vigenere cipher encryption. XOR Bitwise Operation. XOR & the One-Time Pad. XOR Exploration. Bitwise Operators. What's Next?. The Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic. Public Key Cryptography: what is it?. The Discrete Logarithm Problem. Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange. RSA Encryption: step 1. RSA Encryption: step 2. RSA Encryption: step 3. Time Complexity (Exploration). Euler's Totient Function. Euler Totient Exploration. RSA Encryption: step 4. What should we learn next?. What is Modular Arithmetic?. Modulo Operator. Congruence Modulo. Congruence Relation. Equivalence Relations. The Quotient Remainder Theorem. Modular Addition & Subtraction. Modular Addition. Modular Multiplication. Modular Multiplication. Modular Exponentiation. Fast Modular Exponentiation. Fast Modular Exponentiation. Modular Inverses. Introduction. Primality Test Challenge. Trial Division. Level 1: Primality Test. Running Time. Level 2: measuring running time. Computer Memory (space). Binary Memory Exploration. Algorithmic Efficiency. Level 3: Challenge. Sieve of Eratosthenes. Level 4: Sieve of Eratosthenes. Primality Test with Sieve. Level 5: Trial division using sieve. The Prime Number Theorem. Prime density spiral. Prime Gaps. Time Space Tradeoff. Summary (what's next?). Randomized Algorithms (intro). Conditional Probability (Bayes Theorem) Visualized. Guess the coin. Random Primality Test (warm up). Level 9: Trial Divison vs Random Division. Fermat's Little Theorem. Fermat Primality Test. Level 10: Fermat Primality Test. What's Next?.

We've always been communicating.... as we moved from signal fires, to alphabets & electricity the problems remained the same. What is Information Theory?. Prehistory: Proto-writing. Ptolemaic: Rosetta Stone. Ancient History: The Alphabet. Source Encoding. Visual Telegraphs (case study). Decision Tree Exploration. Electrostatic Telegraphs (case study). The Battery & Electromagnetism. Morse Code & The Information Age. Morse code Exploration. What's Next?. Symbol Rate. Symbol Rate Exploration. Introduction to Channel Capacity. Message Space Exploration. Measuring Information. Galton Board Exploration. Origin of Markov Chains. Markov Chain Exploration. A Mathematical Theory of Communication. Markov Text Exploration. What's Next?. What is Information Theory?. Prehistory: Proto-writing. Ptolemaic: Rosetta Stone. Ancient History: The Alphabet. Source Encoding. Visual Telegraphs (case study). Decision Tree Exploration. Electrostatic Telegraphs (case study). The Battery & Electromagnetism. Morse Code & The Information Age. Morse code Exploration. What's Next?. Symbol Rate. Symbol Rate Exploration. Introduction to Channel Capacity. Message Space Exploration. Measuring Information. Galton Board Exploration. Origin of Markov Chains. Markov Chain Exploration. A Mathematical Theory of Communication. Markov Text Exploration. What's Next?.

This course provides students with a theoretical and conceptual understanding of the field of game design, along with practical exposure to the process of creating a game. Topics covered include iteration, rapid prototyping, mechanics, dynamics, flow theory, the nature of fun, game balance, and user interface design. Primary focus is on non-digital games. The course instructor recommends purchase of one or more textbooks or other course materials. Please see the details below. * Challenges for Game Designers, by Brathwaite & Schreiber. [Required; estimated cost $16.50] This book covers a lot of basic information on both practical and theoretical game design. It will be referenced heavily throughout the course. * Tabletop: Analog Game Design, edited by Costikyan [Required; free as PDF download] This is a collection of essays on tabletop game design and analysis. * Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, by McCloud. [Recommended; estimated cost $12.50] While this book refers to comics, many of the lessons within it can be applied to game design and other forms of art. It also is written in a comic book format (which makes it fun to read). * A Theory of Fun for Game Design, by Koster. [Recommended; estimated cost $15.50] This book shows the similarities between game design and education. It also incorporated good discussions regarding the concept of Flow.

This course provides an overview of the evolving field of cybersecurity, with an introduction to cybersecurity standards and law. Students will learn about common cyber attacks and the techniques for identifying, detecting, and defending against cybersecurity threats. They will also gain a basic understanding of personal, physical, network, web, and wireless security, as well as a foundation for more advanced study of cybersecurity.

This course is a continuation of the first-semester course titled CS101: Introduction to Computer Science I [1]. It will introduce you to a number of more advanced Computer Science topics, laying a strong foundation for future academic study in the discipline. We will begin with a comparison between Java - the programming language utilized last semester - and C++, another popular, industry-standard programming language. We will then discuss the fundamental building blocks of Object-Oriented Programming, reviewing what we learned last semester and familiarizing ourselves with some more advanced programming concepts. The remaining course units will be devoted to various advanced topics, including the Standard Template Library, Exceptions, Recursion, Searching and Sorting, and Template Classes. By the end of the class, you will have a solid understanding of Java and C++ programming, as well as a familiarity with the major issues that programmers routinely address in a professional setting. [1] http://www.saylor.

When we use programming for problem-solving purposes, data must be stored in certain forms, or Data Structures, so that operations on that data will yield a specific type of output.  Imagine, for example, that a non-profit is having trouble staying afloat and needs an increase in donation.  It decides it wants to keep track of its donors in a program in order to figure out who is contributing and why.  You would first need to define the properties that would define those donors: name, address, amount donated, date of donation, and so on.  Then, when the non-profit wants to determine how to best reach out to their donors, it can create a model of the average donor that contributes to the non-profitsay, for example, based on size of gift and locationso that it can better determine who is most receptive to its mission.  In this case, size of gift and location are the “data” of the donor model.  If the non-profit were to use this model, it would be identifying real donors by first generating an abstract…

This course focuses on the fundamentals of computer algorithms, emphasizing methods useful in practice.  We look into the algorithm analysis as a way to understand behavior of computer programs as a function of its input size.  Using the big-O notation, we classify algorithms by their efficiency.  We look into basic algorithm strategies and approaches to problem solving.  Some of these approaches include the divide and conquer method, dynamic programming, and greedy programming paradigms.  Sorting and searching algorithms are discussed in detail as they form part of a solution to a large number of problems solved using computers.  We also provide an introduction to the graph theory and graph algorithms as they are also used in many computer-based applications today.  We conclude the course with a look into a special class of problems called the NP-complete problems.

The World Wide Web (WWW) has become the primary means by which we conduct searches and perform billing transactionsevents that can only occur with the support of specific applications.  The purpose of this course is to introduce you to the design and development of such applications.  This course will expose you to the basic fundamentals of the Internet and Web protocols, the different architectures that Web-related applications use, and the programming languages that enable the development of Web applications, placing particular emphasis on JavaScript, HTML, XML, AJAX, and Java Server Pages (JSP).  We will also cover matters of security and reliability in the development of web applications via the use of transport encryption and authentication.

This course will introduce you to modern operating systems.  We will focus on UNIX-based operating systems, though we will also learn about alternative operating systems, including Windows.  The course will begin with an overview of the structure of modern operating systems.  Over the course of the subsequent units, we will discuss the history of modern computers, analyze in detail each of the major components of an operating system (from processes to threads), and explore more advanced topics in the field, including memory management and file input/output.  The class will conclude with a discussion of various system-related security issues.

The Internet has become one of the most important components of our life. We browse the Web, check e-mails, make VoIP phone calls, and have video conferences via computers. All of these applications are made possible by networking computers together, and this complex network of computers is usually referred to as the Internet. This course is designed to give you a clear understanding of how networks, from in-home local area networks, or LANS, to the massive and global Internet, are built and how they allow us to use computers to share information and communicate with one another. Unit 1 introduces you to an explanation of what computer networks are as well as to some basic terminology fundamental to understanding computer networks. You will also familiarize yourself with the concept of layers, which compose the framework around which networks are built. Next, Unit 2 explains the concept of protocols. A computer communication (or network) protocol defines rules and conventions for communication between netwo…

CS405 introduces the field of artificial intelligence (AI).  Materials on AI programming, logic, search, game playing, machine learning, natural language understanding, and robotics introduce the student to AI methods, tools, and techniques, their application to computational problems, and their contribution to understanding intelligence.  Because each of these topics could be a course unto itself, the material is introductory and not complete.  Each unit presents the problem a topic addresses, current progress, and approaches to the problem.  The readings include and cite more materials that are referenced in this course, and students are encouraged to use these resources to pursue topics of interest after this course.

This course focuses on the fundamentals of information security that are used in protecting both the information present in computer storage as well as information traveling over computer networks. Interest in information security has been spurred by the pervasive use of computer-based applications such as information systems, databases, and the Internet. Information security has also emerged as a national goal in the United States and in other countries with national defense and homeland security implications. Information security is enabled through securing data, computers, and networks. In this course, we will look into such topics as fundamentals of information security, computer security technology and principles, access control mechanisms, cryptography algorithms, software security, physical security, and security management and risk assessment. By the end of this course, you will be able to describe major information security issues and trends, and advise an individual seeking to protect his or her dat…

User dependency on the Internet increases every day; nowadays, everyday tasks like paying bills, communicating with others, and applying for jobs are all routinely carried out via the Internet.  While the Internet represents a huge network, it is meaningless without the applications that it supports.  These applications enable user interaction and facilitate everyday activities.  In this course, we will learn about the design and implementation of network-based applications, focusing on Object-Oriented Programming and programming techniques both at the application layer and the transport layer of the TCP/IP protocol stack.  Additional concepts covered include text transport (moving text from one computer to another over the network), data transport, object transport, remote function calls, and, finally, class transport.  You will approach these concepts from an Object-Oriented point of view, learning to implement design patterns in your code in order to ensure software reusability (a highly desirable fea…