CSC 458 - A Significant Level of Technology is Indistinguishable from Magic

Course Description:

The purpose of off-campus travel is to enrich student learning and curricular objectives, providing a valuable learning experience and enriching the imaginative learning environment to give students the opportunity to see and experience the technology they are learning about in the classroom. This experiential component is essential in cementing the material in a way that lectures alone cannot do.

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is the wireless, non-contact use of radio frequency fields to transfer data, for the purpose of identifying and tracking tags attached to objects. These tags have many uses – tracking automobiles through various stages of production, following pharmaceuticals through warehouses, finding lost livestock and pets, etc. Recently, Walt Disney Imagineers have incorporated this technology into several areas of Disney parks – to enhance the guest experience and increase the feeling of “magic” as one moves about the parks.

As quoted by Arthur C. Clark, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” How can we use the examples set forth by Disney’s Imagineers to bring a magical experience to guests and students here on the campus of Presbyterian College? This Maymester assumes that NO ONE has any experience with databases or RFID technology (or even computer science/programming). We will start with the basics and using research and knowledge gained from lecture and personal experience, design a plan to bring some of the magic of Disney closer to home.

After taking this course, students will understand:

• Use of MySQL in the creation of a basic database
• Creation of tables, queries, forms, reports, data access pages
• Ability to use RFID technology to access, update, and obtain information from the database
• Create useful and professional output from the database based on RFID access
• Gain leadership and teamwork skills through the Disney College Program, taught by Disney specialists
• Gain valuable insights from experiences while traveling from both personal experience and learning from the Disney Specialists (Instructors and Imagineers - Disney's name for Imaginative Engineers) through personal
interaction with them.