About this course: The impact of technology and networks on our lives, culture, and society continues to increase. The very fact that you can take this course from anywhere in the world requires a technological infrastructure that was designed, engineered, and built over the past sixty years. To function in an information-centric world, we need to understand the workings of network technology. This course will open up the Internet and show you how it was created, who created it and how it works. Along the way we will meet many of the innovators who developed the Internet and Web technologies that we use today. What You Will Learn: After this course you will not take the Internet and Web for granted. You will be better informed about important technological issues currently facing society. You will realize that the Internet and Web are spaces for innovation and you will get a better understanding of how you might fit into that innovation. If you get excited about the material in this course, it is a great lead-in to taking a course in Web design, Web development, programming, or even network administration. At a minimum, you will be a much wiser network citizen.
Created by: University of Michigan
Taught by: Charles Severance, Associate Professor
School of Information
| Commitment | 12 hours of videos and quizzes |
| Language | English, Subtitles: Italian, Russian |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Getting Started
Welcome to the class. We will first look at the history of the Internet and Web, followed by a look at how the network works and then examine how we secure information on the Internet and Web.
3 videos, 2 readings
- Reading: Course Materials
- Video: Bonus: Office Hours - Manila, Philippines
- Video: Bonus: Offices Hours in Portland, OR
- Reading: Help us learn more about you!
History: Dawn of Electronic Computing
World War II emphasized the strategic importance of computation, communication, and information. There was unprecedented investment in the development of new technologies during the war. We start with Alan Turing and others at Bletchley Park.
7 videos
- Video: Alan Turing and Bletchley Park
- Video: Bonus: Class Reunion at Bletchley Park
- Video: Post-War Computing and Communication
- Video: Using the Michigan Terminal System (through 6:00)
- Video: Wrap up and Reflection
- Video: Bonus: Office Hours - Barcelona, Spain
Graded: History: Dawn of Electronic Computing
WEEK 2
History: The First Internet - NSFNet
In the 1960s and 1970s, there was a great deal of research done to build the first wide-area packet switched networks for the US Department of Defense. In the 1980s, the first “Internet” was formed to allow academic researchers to access supercomputer resources.
8 videos
- Video: Larry Smarr - NCSA
- Video: History Through NSFNet
- Video: Doug Van Houweling - NSFNet
- Video: Leonard Klienrock - The First Two Packets on the Internet
- Video: Katie Hafner - Where Wizards Stay Up Late
- Video: Bonus: Nii Quaynor - Bringing the Web to Africa
- Video: Bonus: Office Hours - Washington DC, USA
Graded: History: The First Internet - NSFNet
WEEK 3
History: The Web Makes it Easy to Use
The World-Wide-Web was invented in 1990 but it was not an overnight success. But by 1994 - “the year of the web” - the web was being widely used and Internet usage was growing by leaps and bounds.
8 videos
- Video: Robert Cailliau - Co-Inventor of the Web
- Video: The Web Becomes Content
- Video: Paul Kunz - The First Web Server in America
- Video: Building Mosaic
- Video: Joseph Hardin - NCSA Mosaic
- Video: Reflecting on Mosaic
- Video: Bonus: Office Hours - Mexico City, Mexico
Graded: History: The Web Makes it Easy to Use
WEEK 4
History: Commercialization and Growth
The late 1990’s saw the web and Internet used increasingly to revolutionize how business was done. Companies like Amazon were founded and grew very rapidly.
8 videos
- Video: Mitchell Baker: The Mozilla Foundation
- Video: Brendan Eich - Inventor of JavaScript
- Video: Assume the Web
- Video: Jeff Bezos - Founder of Amazon
- Video: The Modern Internet
- Video: Bonus: Tim Berners-Lee
- Video: Bonus: Office Hours - Melbourne, Australia
Graded: History: Commercialization and Growth
WEEK 5
Technology: Internets and Packets
The Internet is designed based on a four-layer model. Each layer builds on the layers below it. The Link and Internetwork layers are the lowest layers of that model.
5 videos
- Video: Bob Metcalfe - The Ethernet Story
- Video: The InterNetwork (IP)
- Video: Vint Cerf - A Brief History of Packets
- Video: Bonus: Office Hours - Palo Alto, California, USA
Graded: Technology: Internets and Packets
WEEK 6
Technology: Transport Control Protocol (TCP)
The Transport layer is built on the Internetwork layer and is what makes our network connections reliable.
5 videos
- Video: Van Jacobson - Slow Start Algorithm
- Video: The Domain Name System
- Video: TCP Wrap Up
- Video: Bonus: Office Hours - Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Graded: Technology: Transport Control Protocol (TCP)
WEEK 7
Technology: Application Protocols
With reliable “pipes” available from the Transport layer, we can build applications like web browsers, file transfer applications, or email clients and servers.
3 videos
- Video: Van Jacobson - Content Centered Networking
- Video: Bonus: Office Hours - San Diego, California, USA
Graded: Technology: Application Protocols
WEEK 8
Security: Encrypting and Signing
Using simple examples, we examing how to shield data from prying eyes and make sure that the data was not altered while in transit.
4 videos
- Video: Security - Encryption and Confidentiality
- Video: Security - Integrity and Signatures
- Video: Bruce Schneier: The Security Mindset
Graded: Security : Encrypting and Signing
WEEK 9
Security: Web Security
We apply the basic ideas of encryption and signing to who we actually secure the connections that we use on today’s Web and Internet.
4 videos
- Video: Diffie, Hellman, and Merkle (YouTube only)
- Video: Security - Integrity and Certificate Authorities
- Video: Bruce Schneier: Building Cryptographic Systems
Graded: Security: Web Security
WEEK 10
Final Exam
1 video, 1 reading
- Reading: Post-course Survey
Graded: Final Exam - IHTS
FAQs
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Ratings and Reviews
I love history. Thanks Dr. Chuck!
A great course to have general overview and understanding of Internet and its security.
Have learnt great deal of new things about technology that I use on a daily basis.
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This course gives a lot of information on history of computers and technology in general. It's a great course and the professor is truly amazing. He is a great guy and also manages to explain things in the best way.