The best way to determine if you need to take this course is to look through the learning objectives. A tentative week-by-week schedule for the course topics is available here.
The lecture slides and readings from the 2005 SI540 (Understanding Networked Computing) course taught by Prof. Resnick) are available here, and may be helpful in preparing for the exam; please note, however, that the new SI502 course syllabus is somewhat different from the old SI540 course.
After taking the examination: We will grade the exams and inform you by email about how you did. If you pass the competency requirements, you may still choose to take SI502 if you feel it will be helpful.