Introducing 
Big Data Concepts 
in an 
Introductory Technology 
Course 
Mark Frydenberg 
Bentley University 
Waltham, MA 
@checkmark
IT 101 Current Topics 
• Computers 
• Operating System Basics 
• Input and Output Devices 
• Internet 
• Cloud Services 
• Wireless Networking 
• Web 
• Software and Apps 
• Office Apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) 
• Security and Privacy 
• Mobile Devices 
• Databases
Goals: 
• Introduce Big Data Concepts and Buzzwords 
• Introduce Database Concepts 
• No programming 
• Methodology
The Presentation in Class
Tech Trends Enable Big Data
The Demo
http://bigquery.cloud.google.com
Turn on BigQuery
Sample Public Databases
Shakespeare Database
Google BigQuery
A More Complex and Amusing 
Query 
SELECT title, 
sum (num_characters) as num_characters 
FROM [publicdata:samples.wikipedia] 
WHERE 
regexp_match(title, r'^G.*o.*o.*g.*l.*e$') and 
not (title contains 'Google') 
GROUP BY title 
ORDER BY num_characters DESC 
LIMIT 1000
Natality Database Query
Download BigQuery Connector
Excel with BigQuery Connector
Data imported from BigQuery
Analysis with Pivot Table and 
Spark lines
Methodology 
• 166 (64f + 102m) / 160 (64f +96m) students 
• 7 sections of IT 101 
• 1 Instructor (me!) 
• Pre- and Post- Interviews following the lesson, 
approximately 2 weeks apart 
• Interviews
Survey Results
Survey Results
What did you learn about Big Data? 
Big Data has become a part of our everyday 
lives. It is tracing our locations through our 
phones and we constantly leave paths through 
various social media sites." 
"Every move we make seems to be recorded 
and every human being is leaving a data trail 
that will be there after the human being is 
long gone."
“The content was relevant, crucial and 
necessary in what many would consider the 
'technological age,' and I have begun to 
realize that informing myself of news and 
materials in this field may prove beneficial, if 
not necessary."
Thanks! 
Mark Frydenberg 
mfrydenberg@bentley.edu 
@checkmark

Introducing Big Data in the Digital Literacy Curriculum