Members of the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) academic community have access to extensive computing resources. Like any community, CMU has certain rules and standards that set expectations of behavior. This course helps students better understand what the expectations are for responsibly using CMU’s computing resources, focusing on common problems that students have and areas that often cause trouble. It introduces students to some of the most commonly used technologies, tools, and resources, teaches them how to use them, and explains how to get help if they run into problems. Additionally, it teaches students their responsibilities for protecting information and computing resources by avoiding behavior that could lead to a compromise, as well as explaining online threats and risks, and the various ways to protect themselves. Lastly, it teaches students how to define what information they need for specific research purposes, locate the best sources, evaluate them, and use them in their work.

This course was specifically designed to be taught at CMU, but can be used in part or adapted by other institutions. At CMU the course is offered in a hybrid format, meaning that students work through the online course materials and then attend a weekly recitation session to further review concepts that were challenging and to get personalized help with any learning objectives that they couldn’t master on their own.