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Computer Science 150
3 College Credits
NCCRS Credit Recommended
Computer Concepts
and
Applications
A grounded introduction to how computers work and how to use them effectively, built for the digital world you are already living in.
Self-Paced · Final Exam · NCCRS Recommended
What You'll Learn
A full semester of computer concepts and applications — completed at your own pace, with no deadlines or fixed class times.
Learning Outcomes
What You'll Be Able to Do
- Analyze the historical evolution of computers and their impact on modern society
- Compare and contrast various types of computer systems and evaluate their respective functionalities, as well as the influence of computers on different work environments
- Design and implement robust database systems, understanding the intricacies of data types, relational databases, and SQL; interpret and leverage data through sophisticated data science techniques, utilizing big data analytics and data visualization tools to derive actionable insights
- Construct and manage innovative applications of the Internet of Things (IoT) in various sectors such as healthcare, automotive, and urban development
- Distinguish and explain the differences between information systems and information technology, using practical examples
- Identify, describe, and demonstrate the practical application of the components and functions of computer hardware
- Implement basic troubleshooting techniques to identify and resolve hardware, software, and network issues
- Evaluate computer threats and implement appropriate security measures to safeguard systems and data
Topics Covered
Major Course Topics
Introduction to computers & system components
Computer hardware & troubleshooting
Operating systems & modern computing
File organization & management
Telecommunications systems & networks
Evolution & growth of the Internet
Online communication & professional etiquette
Web browsers & search engines
Ethical & societal implications of technology
Internet security & cyber threat prevention
Office productivity tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
Database management & SQL
Relational database design with Microsoft Access
Computer programming fundamentals
Email management & productivity
Systems development & analysis (SDLC)
From the syllabus · Computer Science 150
Course chapters and lessons
Computer Concepts and Applications has 20 chapters across 73 instructional hours, as listed in the course syllabus. Expand any chapter to see the lessons inside it.
- Chapters
- 20
- Lessons
- 110
- Instructional hours
- 73 hrs
- Semester hours
- 3
Chapter 1
The Story of Computing — How Machines Evolved from Room-Sized Calculators to Pocket Devices
- 1.1 A Walk Through Time — How Computing Machines Evolved Over the Decades
- 1.2 From Vacuum Tubes to Microchips — The Five Generations of Computing Hardware
- 1.3 Laptops, Desktops, and Beyond — How Today's Personal Computers Stack Up Against Each Other
- 1.4 What's Inside Your Machine — Recognizing and Naming Every Part of a Computer System
Chapter 2
Peripherals, Screenshots, and Keeping Your Files in Order
- 2.1 Input, Output, and Storage — Sorting Peripheral Devices by What They Do
- 2.2 Saving What's on Your Screen — A Hands-On Guide to Capturing Screenshots
- 2.3 Naming, Moving, and Organizing Your Digital Files Like a Professional
Chapter 3
What You Can Touch vs. What You Can Run — Hardware Essentials and Troubleshooting
- 3.1 Every Piece of Hardware You'll Find Inside and Around a Computer — and How It Differs from Software
- 3.2 When Something Breaks — Diagnosing and Resolving Common Hardware Failures
Chapter 4
The Master Program — Why Every Computer Needs an Operating System
- 4.1 Why Every Computer Needs a Master Program Managing Its Resources
- 4.2 The Essential Jobs an Operating System Performs Behind the Scenes
- 4.3 A Survey of Operating Systems — From Windows and macOS to Linux and Beyond
- 4.4 How the Software Running Your Phone Differs from the Software Running Your Laptop
Chapter 5
Getting Comfortable with Windows 11 and Personalizing Your Digital Workspace
- 5.1 Getting to Know Windows 11 — Interface, Features, and Navigation
- 5.2 Personalizing Your Browser by Organizing Bookmarks and Favorite Sites
- 5.3 Why File Organization Matters and How to Plan the Time to Do It Right
- 5.4 A Walkthrough for Creating, Renaming, Moving, Copying, and Deleting Files
Chapter 6
Hands-On File Skills Every User Needs to Master
- 6.1 Building a Brand-New Folder in Windows 11 from Scratch
- 6.2 Core Skills Every User Needs for Day-to-Day File Handling
Chapter 7
How Devices Communicate — Networks, Architectures, and Wireless Technology
- 7.1 The Essential Parts That Make Up Any Telecommunications System
- 7.2 From Your Desk to the Globe — LAN, WAN, WLAN, MAN, SAN, PAN, EPN, and VPN Explained
- 7.3 Organizing Network Roles — Tiered Architecture vs. Peer-to-Peer Sharing
Chapter 8
Network Layouts and Wireless Devices That Keep Us Connected
- 8.1 Mapping the Wires — How Star, Bus, Ring, and Mesh Layouts Connect Computers Together
- 8.2 Staying Connected Without Cables — GPS, PDA, Cellular, and Satellite Devices
Chapter 9
From a Military Experiment to a Global Network — The Early Internet
- 9.1 Tracing the Earliest Ideas That Led to a Connected World
- 9.2 The People and Projects Behind the Creation of the Internet
- 9.3 The Very First Time Two Computers Exchanged a Message Over a Network
- 9.4 How a Government Research Network Rose, Expanded, and Eventually Shut Down
- 9.5 Breaking Messages into Pieces — How Packet Switching Makes Data Travel Possible
- 9.6 The Universal Language of the Internet — How TCP/IP Keeps Everything Talking
- 9.7 Turning Website Names into Machine-Readable Addresses with DNS
Chapter 10
Email, Home Computing, and the Explosive Growth of the World Wide Web
- 10.1 How Electronic Mail Went from Lab Experiment to Everyday Communication
- 10.2 When Computers First Entered Living Rooms — The Home Computing Revolution
- 10.3 A Decade of Explosive Growth — How the Internet Expanded from 1985 to 1995
- 10.4 The World Wide Web and the Browsers That Brought It to Life
- 10.5 Buying and Selling Online — The First Wave of E-Commerce and the Dotcom Crash
Chapter 11
Digital Manners — Communicating with Respect and Professionalism Online
- 11.1 The Unwritten Rules That Govern Polite and Respectful Behavior on the Internet
- 11.2 What to Do and What to Avoid When Sending Professional Emails
- 11.3 How to Contribute Thoughtfully and Respectfully in Online Discussion Forums
Chapter 12
Virtual Meetings, Social Media Presence, and Your Digital Footprint
- 12.1 Presenting Yourself Professionally During Virtual Meetings on Platforms Like Teams
- 12.2 Every Click Leaves a Trace — Managing Your Digital Footprint and Social Media Presence
- 12.3 A Beginner-Friendly Explanation of What Happens When You Type a URL and Press Enter
- 12.4 From Mosaic to Chrome — How Web Browsers Have Evolved Over the Years
- 12.5 Under the Hood — How a Browser Fetches, Renders, and Displays Content Using Its Core Components
Chapter 13
Finding Anything Online — Search Engines, Personalization, and Privacy
- 13.1 What a Search Engine Is and Why It's the Starting Point for Nearly Everything Online
- 13.2 Crawling, Indexing, and Ranking — The Three-Step Process Behind Every Search Result
- 13.3 The Tools and Filters That Help You Narrow Down Exactly What You're Looking For
- 13.4 Why Two People Searching the Same Words Can Get Completely Different Results
Chapter 14
The Future of Search, Digital Ethics, and Staying Safe in a Connected World
- 14.1 What Search Engines Know About You and Why That Raises Privacy Questions
- 14.2 Voice Search, AI Answers, and What's Coming Next for Search Technology
- 14.3 Hands-On Practice — Running an Effective Search and Evaluating What Comes Back
- 14.4 Why Protecting Personal Information Online Matters More Than Ever
- 14.5 Who Owns Digital Content — Copyrights, Patents, Trademarks, and Fair Use
- 14.6 How Computers and the Internet Are Reshaping Culture, Work, and Human Interaction
- 14.7 Ten Guiding Principles for Using Technology Responsibly and Ethically
- 14.8 Deception-Based Attacks — Phishing Emails, Scam Websites, and Social Engineering Tricks
- 14.9 Software-Based Threats — Viruses, Malware, Ransomware, and Spyware Explained
- 14.10 Practical Steps You Can Take Right Now to Reduce Your Risk of a Cyber Attack
- 14.11 How Antivirus and Anti-Malware Programs Detect, Quarantine, and Remove Threats
Chapter 15
Diagnosing Problems and Getting Your Computer Back on Track
- 15.1 What Troubleshooting Means, the Key Terms, and How to Pinpoint Whether It's Hardware, Software, or the Network
- 15.2 Getting Help — How to Use Technical Support Resources to Resolve Issues Faster
Chapter 16
Writing, Formatting, and Citing — Mastering Word Processing for Academic and Professional Work
- 16.1 How Word Processing Went from Typewriters to the Software We Use Today
- 16.2 A Landscape of Word Processing Tools — From Microsoft Word to Google Docs and Beyond
- 16.3 Navigating Microsoft Word — Interface, Core Features, and Everyday Tasks
- 16.4 Formatting Rules That Make Your Writing Look Professional and Consistent
- 16.5 Citing Sources the Right Way — A Practical Guide to APA Style
Chapter 17
Spreadsheets, Slides, and Visual Storytelling — Productivity Tools That Power Every Career
- 17.1 How Spreadsheet Software Evolved from Paper Ledgers to Powerful Digital Tools
- 17.2 Comparing Spreadsheet Applications — Excel, Google Sheets, and Alternatives
- 17.3 Getting Comfortable with Microsoft Excel — Cells, Formulas, Charts, and Shortcuts
- 17.4 What Presentation Software Does and Why Visual Storytelling Matters
- 17.5 Designing Slides That Inform, Engage, and Persuade Your Audience
- 17.6 Going Beyond Basics — Animations, Transitions, Multimedia, and Speaker Notes
- 17.7 The Power Hour Method — Clearing Your Inbox in Focused, Timed Bursts
- 17.8 Sending Fewer but Better Emails — Controlling What Leaves Your Outbox
- 17.9 Filtering, Sorting, and Prioritizing the Messages That Come to You
- 17.10 Building a Personal System That Keeps Email Organized Without Constant Effort
- 17.11 Protecting Your Attention — How to Stop Email from Hijacking Your Entire Day
Chapter 18
Where Data Lives — Understanding Databases and Why They Matter
- 18.1 What a Database Is and Why Organized Data Storage Matters
- 18.2 The Language That Lets You Talk to Databases — A First Look at SQL
- 18.3 How Databases Have Changed from Flat Files to Intelligent Cloud-Based Systems
- 18.4 When to Use a Spreadsheet and When You Need a Real Database
- 18.5 Traditional Database Models — Flat, Hierarchical, Network, and Relational Structures
- 18.6 The Rise of NoSQL — Document, Key-Value, Graph, and Column-Family Databases
- 18.7 The Software Layer That Sits Between You and the Raw Data
- 18.8 What a Database Management System Does and Why It's Essential
- 18.9 Your First Steps with MySQL — Setting Up, Connecting, and Running Queries
Chapter 19
Databases in the Real World — Business Decisions, Automation, and Building with Microsoft Access
- 19.1 How Businesses Use Databases to Track Performance and Make Smarter Decisions
- 19.2 The Headaches of Managing Databases — Security, Scalability, and Data Quality
- 19.3 The Autonomous Future — How AI and Cloud Technology Are Transforming Database Management
- 19.4 Getting Started with Relational Databases Using Microsoft Access
- 19.5 Defining Columns, Data Types, and Records by Creating Tables
- 19.6 Building User-Friendly Data Entry Screens with Forms
- 19.7 Asking Your Database Questions — Writing Your First Queries
- 19.8 Connecting Tables Together — How Relationships Enforce Data Integrity
- 19.9 Writing More Powerful Queries — Joins, Calculations, and Conditional Logic
- 19.10 From Blueprint to Build — Designing Entity-Relationship Models and Mapping Them to Database Tables
- 19.11 Creating, Altering, and Dropping Database Objects with DDL Commands
- 19.12 Eliminating Redundancy — Why Normalization Makes Databases Cleaner and Faster
Chapter 20
Writing Code and Building Systems — From Your First Program to a Finished Product
- 20.1 What Programming Is and Why Learning to Code Opens Doors Across Every Industry
- 20.2 A Tour of Popular Languages — C++, Java, Python, and What Each Does Best
- 20.3 Building for the Browser — HTML, XHTML, XML, CSS, and JavaScript in Action
- 20.4 Storing and Naming Information — Variables, Data Types, and Constants
- 20.5 Controlling What Happens Next — Loops, Conditions, and Functions
- 20.6 The Cycle of Coding — Writing, Testing, and Squashing Bugs Until It Works
- 20.7 Learning by Doing — Creative Project Ideas Using Affordable Single-Board Computers
- 20.8 The Approaches, Methodologies, and Tools Teams Use to Develop Software
- 20.9 Walking Through Every Stage a System Passes Through from Birth to Retirement
- 20.10 Deciding Whether to Build Software In-House or Bring in Outside Developers
- 20.11 Why Carefully Studying a Problem Before Writing Code Saves Time and Money
- 20.12 Drawing the Map — How Flowcharts and Analysis Tools Help Teams Visualize Solutions
These chapters come straight from the official course syllabus, which also sets out the graded assignment and the proctored final exam.
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A grounded introduction to how computers work and how to use them effectively, built for the digital world you are already living in.
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Course Trailer
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A 55-second look at Computer Concepts and Applications.
FAQ
Common Questions Answered.
Everything you need to know about Computer Concepts and Applications — credits, grading, transfer, and how it compares to traditional options.
What is Computer Concepts and Applications?
Computer Concepts and Applications is a college-level technology course covering core concepts and practical skills in the subject area. It is Computer Science 150 — worth 3 credit hours, carrying an NCCRS recommendation from NCCRS.
What technical background do I need for Computer Concepts and Applications?
No specific technical background is required to start. The course is structured to build from foundational concepts to practical application, making it accessible to students at any level.
Is the Computer Concepts and Applications course self-paced for college credit?
Yes. The course is fully self-paced with no deadlines or fixed class times. Most students complete it in 28–30 days, but you can move faster or slower depending on your schedule.
How many college credits is Computer Concepts and Applications worth?
This course carries an NCCRS recommendation for 3 semester credit hours. UPI Study courses follow the same evaluation standard used across thousands of colleges and universities.
How is the Computer Concepts and Applications course graded? Are there exams?
Yes — the course includes quizzes, assignments, and a final exam. Your grade is equally weighted: 25% Attendance · 25% Quizzes · 25% Assignments · 25% Final Exam.
Will my university accept Computer Concepts and Applications credits from UPI Study?
Check our Find My College directory. If your university recognizes NCCRS credit recommendations, UPI Study courses can be considered; the final decision is with the university. You can also book a free call with our team.
Why take Computer Concepts and Applications online instead of at a traditional university?
A traditional university course in this subject typically costs $500–$1,500+ per credit hour and requires fixed schedules, campus attendance, and semester timelines. UPI Study covers the same NCCRS-recommended content at $250 total, with no deadlines and no campus requirement.
Can international students take Computer Concepts and Applications for college credit?
Yes. UPI Study courses carry an NCCRS recommendation — recognized by cooperating institutions in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and other countries. Students have submitted credits across 26+ countries.
Are Computer Concepts and Fundamentals of IT the same course?
They cover similar fundamentals — Computer Concepts and Applications leans toward hands-on application skills, while Fundamentals of IT goes deeper into systems, networks, and infrastructure. Pick the one whose name matches your degree plan, or ask our advisors which fits.
Who typically needs the Computer Concepts and Applications course?
Non-CS majors fulfilling a computer literacy gen-ed requirement.
Does this course cover basic office software and computer hardware?
Yes, topics include hardware components, operating systems, network fundamentals, databases, spreadsheet usage, and cybersecurity basics.
Is this a general education requirement?
It frequently fulfills general computer literacy or intro to technology requirements across most associate and bachelor's degree tracks.
Where will my college put this credit?
Usually as transfer credit, credit for prior learning (CPL), or noncollegiate/alternative credit, the same route colleges use for professional training evaluated by NCCRS. The final decision is with the university.
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