Week Five- Information management 31/8/07

Nicolas Negropontes being Digital
Bits and Atoms
Although most information we get is in form of atom (printed material), we are heading into an information economy. Relatively speaking, the information itself can be worth much more than the physical device it is stored on. In digital form, the flow of content is not easily restricted compared to real content. Bits is the way of the future a company judges itself by what technologies it has in digital form but this does not mean everything that is manufactured will become bit based. The good thing about having bit based information is it is cheaper, doesn’t use many resources and is easy to access all the time. The bad thing is you can’t touch it like with a book and its not as good of quality like with a book.

With a book it is bound by three physical dimensions but with a book on the internet there can be many networks which can keep growing and growing because there is unlimited space. People can edit an author’s work as more information comes along. Multimedia is always changing in the future laptops will become like books themselves. In summary technology will always be growing in schools, hospitals life in general.

Managing information by Dr Jim Mullany
When becoming an undergraduate it is necessary to manage your information effectively using computers will become a big part of managing your information. To make it easy to find references you’ve used in the past use end note it is reference management software that stores all of your references for you. To access previous assignments from different subjects easily it is important to organise them into different folders one for each subject. Use bookmark to save web address’s when using the internet to research rather then relying on memory. Take care when copying and pasting information to not forget to reference it otherwise it would be plagiarism.

To add a web page to your favourites click on the add favourites button then click ok. Click on the favourites button then you can click on organise favourites and create a folder now you can drag the website to the folder.

Information format- Atom based
Meaning the information can be touched, you can see it eg a book magazine or news paper. I prefer atom based information because i find it easier to relocate information.

Information format- Bit based
Meaning electronic content like electronic journals on the internet a good thing about using the internet is it’s cheap and easy to mass produce.

The changed face of goods and services gone from being paper based to bit based information. Internet banking, email

The changing face of goods and services include TV (foxtel IQ), centrelink, dating services, music (shopping)

Some principles for organising bits
Learn the most common file extensions and what they do. The end part of the file name is called the extension i.e. www.compaq.com some of these are .doc (word document) .pdf (adobe acrobat file) .jpeg (image file) .mpg is a (movie file) .wav (sound file) if you cant open one of these documents it’s because you don’t have the soft ware to do it.
Create folders according to function rather than content so that you can find it and use it further down the track if you want to.
Use the properties tool to create meta data about your documents for when you want to search for a document you don’t just have to use the title to look for it you can use key words. It helps us bridge a Symantec gap. So if you can’t remember later on you can jut use key words.
Using the search function when trying to find files which is located in the start menu.
Install Google desktop its useful because it helps you use information that is saved to your desktop from previous searchers.

Week Four-Communications 28/8/07

How to refine emails to get the point across clearly and concisely.
As the sender
Think about wether emailing is the best option or if you need to use another communication method. Make sure to get to the point straight away, if asking a question put it as a question don’t just make a statement of people could disregard what your trying to tell them be clear about who your stating things to and when you need a response. Use grammar and punctuation it makes it easier for people to read. Summarise what you have written just encase someone has not understood the might be able to get a clearer picture.

As the recipient
Sometimes things can come across differently when written in emails because you can’t hear the person’s tone of voice like when on a telephone so don’t assume any emotions. Try re reading it and see wether it could mean anything else before sending a reply. If you can’t understand an email ask the sender to clarify or even phone them. Use email tools to help sort through emails making it easier to access the important ones when needed.

Email etiquette
Choose a subject to let the recipient now what the email content is going to be about. Address recipients appropriately don’t just write hey Linda use dear and spell the persons name correctly. Choose your tone to suit your recipient for example if writing to your boss don’t start adding smiley faces you would need to use a professional tone with proper grammar and punctuation. Don’t be sarcastic in emails because the recipient won’t be able to tell wether you’re trying to be funny or just being rude. Don’t send attachments with out asking the person unless you know them an finally edit your email to get rid of any errors.

IRC internet chat relay allows people to communicate from all over the world. It consists of various network machines that allow users to connect. Once connected you join a chosen channel. Your conversations can public or private.

Spam is unwanted electronic mail and messages which personal email and news groups. Typically in the form of deceptive advertisements, spammers can send millions mail messages with it costing a neglible amount. Spam is more than just an annoyance for the receiver - lots of Internet resources are consumed (space, bandwidth, etc.)

Application protocols and benefits if ICT (Information Communication Technology). Communication can be between two individuals, individuals and organisations, within a business, between business’s and an external organisation. Communication takes place within networks. There are four different types of communication place dependant, place independent, synchronous and asynchronous. Place dependant is when it’s at the same time same place eg chat room or different time same place eg bulletin board. Place independent is at the same time different place i.e. msn messenger or different time different place eg email. Synchronous is when all the parties are communicating at the same time eg a phone call. Asynchronous is communicating in your own time like writing letters. A few things that are ICT mobiles, laptops, ipods etc. some examples of ICT use are email like outlook, instant messengers like Google talk and MSN. Also there is a program called trillion that allows you to put all your instant messengers in to one place, Blogs which are online journals which you can upload pictures and information for the public to see and there’s also useful stuff for students like electronic journals newsletters and broadcasts which all can be quickly and easily accessed over the net. The benefit of using ICT is it is always a growing and updated source of information.

My search term was ‘global warming’ the group that I found interesting was a topic in alt.politics on the causes of global warming someone raised the issue of wether global warming is due to natural influences. There is a few people that agree that global warming is natural but the majority says that it is man who has caused it by putting out such high emission from our lifestyles

The benefits of podcasts for university students is that students can listen to lectures in their own time and revise over them. Anybody who has missed out on a lecture gets a chance to listen to it. Besides lectures, there may be various information covering many topics which could be useful in an assignment.

Week Three Using computers-Presentation strategies 24/8/07

There are a few different types of presentations some of these are a written presentation such as an essay report or paper, self contained presentation on a CD-ROM, video or web page and a oral presentation where you stand in front of a class and do a speech about what you have written. At university you will be asked to give a number of these. There are three points to a speech introduction, body and conclusion. In the intro there are six main components attention getter's, the thesis, audience adaption, credibility statement, preview and transition to the body. The body has the main ideas and references to outside research so your pretty much putting out your argument to the audience. The conclusion reasserts and reinforces the thesis and leaves the reader with the most important ides to remember. When giving a speech on average the audience will only absorb the first 8 minutes so it is important to try and get the audiences attention as much as possible and to have a clearly structures speech as not to confuse them.

When using audiovisual, make sure your information is clear and concise and in reasonably large font so that if people are sitting far away they can still see. If using a projector make sure there is one at the venue. Rehearse your presentation so you know whats coming up next and you don't get confused. Make sure you keep a back up of your working properly in case something goes wrong. Try out your presentation at the venue before hand to make sure everything is working properly. When using power point don't just read what is on the slides make it interesting use the slides as a summary of what you have talked about. Don't use crazy pictures that don't go with what you are talking about keep your theme consistent throughout the presentation.

My top five ways of giving a good presentation are getting your audience involved by asking them questions to keep them listening, use props as examples, make eye contact with the audience, don't be afraid to ad. lib. and most importantly rehearse your presentation so that it doesn't come out in a jumbled mess.

Week Two Using computers-Office Applications 19/08/07

When typing a document to ECU standard it needs to be double spaced have 1 inch margins, the type face size 11 in times new roman also when necessary use appropriate headings. To use dot leaders for the table of contents click on toolbar, format and then tabs the standard setting is 5.7.
Graphic formats
Bitmap- standard windows format
Compu serve- compressed format used to minimise file transfer time.
Jpeg- commonly used to display images on the internet
The tagged image file format- used to exchange files between applications and computer platforms.

Demonstrating Microsoft Word formatting according to ECU standards.
- Text passages were copy-'n-pasted.
- Typeface formatting was adjusted.
- Paragraph formatting was adjusted.
- References were sorted alphabetically so that it is easy for lecturers to find.

The following are the most common applications used on PC: Windows Explorer, Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet Explorer, Adobe Acrobat Reader and Microsoft Outlook.

Windows Explorer is used to provide file management. Some Windows commands are Send To, Rename, Copy, Delete, Undo, etc. Files can be copied across disks or into other folders. Undo can be used to reverse a users actions. New folders can be created and put inside each other.

In word processing, some tasks included Insert Images, Document Map, Editing and formatting, Tables and other objects. Borders and shading can be used on tables. Images can be embedded witihin the text. The text can flow around the objects.

Microsoft Excel can be used to record graphs, pie charts. Data types can be numbers, text, currency, date/times, etc. Handy formulae such as AVERAGE and SUM can be used around data sections. These formulas can be copied down or across as needed by dragging a special part of the marker. Standard formatting can be applied to any cells in the sheets. Charts are created based on existing data. Simple and complex chart types are available, e.g. pie chart, bar chart, line chart, x-y chart, etc.

Microsoft PowerPoint is used for presentations. You can select Formatting and Styles, use animations and graphics. A presentation is broken down into slides. Each slide can have its own style.

Internet Explorer’s Favourites button is used to store website needed for another time. The Navigation buttons are used to go backwards or forwards into your browsing history. The refresh button used to reload the page again. Microsoft Internet Explorer is the most common web browser. Firefox or Netscape are good alternatives.

Dealing with email is a common PC task. Different programs are availiable that manage a users email. People generally follow common email protocol and etiquette. Emails can be forwarded (FWD) to other recipients or replies can be sent back to the original sender. Using the CC field, the email can be sent to multiple interested parties. SPAM is unwanted or unsolicited email sent from around the world or locally. It clutters mailboxes and is a nuisance. Many email clients have feature specifically to deal with SPAM.

PDF is a commonly used document format on the Internet. It works as a plugin for the browser. It has numerous features to help a user read the document, such as page-view options, thumbnail view and zooming. PDFs are useful in how they present a consistent view of the document on the screen or on paper. Within PDF documents, a handy tool is the note taking feature.

Using data tables and graphs in Microsoft Excel.

- different formulae were used in the tally columns

- borders and colours were used within the table

- the graphing Wizard was used to create the charts

Week One Using computers-Personal computing 14/08/07

This week is about learning how to use the ECU website because as an undergraduate it will be used all the time. It is important to logon to Blackboard regularly because announcements are made regularly by lecturers and tutors. Students should also have basic computer skills. How to access the following should be known:
- student email
- unit materials
- ECU library
- enrolment details
- support services
Getting to know the uni now will save time later.

The UPC0004 unit helps you how to access knowledge through the library, Internet and communication technologies. This will then be used to form a report.

By the end of this unit, students should be able to access the Internet and use the ECU website, complete university standard documents, search and find accurate sources and apply them appropriately and be able to work in a team.

A PC is a tool that can be used to do lots of different things and has lots of different parts to it such as a memory hard disk a modem etc. The main components of a desktop computer are the central processing unit (the brain), memory, Random Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), basic input output system, caching, virtual memory, motherboard, power supply, hard disk, operating system, integrated drive electronics, peripheral component interconnect, SCSI, AGP, sound card and graphics card these all work together in a basic operating system session. PC lube and tune is a site that has information on using computers and the internet.