EIE ACADEMY
ONLINE COURSES

FEE: $35/Month.
CLASS TIME:  Tuesdays  9:30-10:30
LOCATION:  Initially at EIE, will determine how many in-class and how many
on-line classes once class is in session.  
CONTACT:   Denis at  eclass@abacus-es.com or call: (626) 797-7201.

Welcome to the online classroom for Introduction to Computing, an Abacus
Educational Services class. This course is offered through Excellence in
Education (EIE), the definitive homeschooling resource center in Monrovia,
CA, and is intended to provide students with the computing tools and
experience necessary for a successful college career in any chosen major
field.

This is intended to be an enjoyable romp through the fascinating and
extremely powerful capabilities of computers and global networking.
Students will get out of it what they put in and may learn very different
things. What will this course cover? We will cover much of the fundamental
material found in introductory college computer courses, but will extend well
beyond the margins of such a class. There is no required text; our text is
the Internet. There is no required software investment; all required software
is free and is, in most cases, superior to that which is available commercially.

What is a standard college introductory computer course? Most college
level introductory computer classes are centered around an expensive
textbook (often over $100). Publishers invest a great deal into promoting
their introductory texts by including PowerPoint presentations, textbanks,
grading software, lecture notes, and any other extras that eliminate work for
instructors and persuade them to adopt a specific text for use in class. A
single class adoption can gross over $3000 for the publisher, and this price
is paid by the student. Typically, there is no market in used books as
publishers produce updated editions often on a yearly basis which
generally renders texts obsolete and worthless as soon as they are
purchased. These practices benefit the textbook publisher and the lazy
teacher at the expense of the student. Textbook authors are inundated with
free material, (illustrations, hardware, software, multimedia) from all manner
of commercial sources seeking visibility in the textbook. This practice results
in texts -- and classes based on those texts -- that describe the world of
computing as commercial interests would like it to be, not as it actually is.

How is this class different? This class is taught by instructors with many
years of college teaching experience but who, in the spirit of
homeschooling, prefer to improve upon the material usually covered in such
courses. With a extremely active and creative online populace, the Internet
contains vast software and information resources, only a tiny percentage of
which are commercial and expensive. However, as there is no six-figure
promotion budget behind free and public material, only the most curious
and enterprising teachers and authors take the time to explore and present
it. The instructors of this class do not claim exhaustive expertise in this field
(it's not likely than anyone can), but they will open the doors and lead the
way for students to explore further on their own.