COP 4910 Frontiers in Information Technology Lecture 1

COP 4910 Frontiers in Information Technology Lecture 1 Communication Skills and Other Things Hal Stringer 1

Today’s Agenda • Safe Computing • Course Goals and Objectives • Communication Skills • Written Communications for This Course • Plagiarism • Simple Approach to Writing • Fonts and Formats • Top 10 List (again) • What is IT? 2

Safe Computing • Why is it important? – Because you will have my email address! • Malicious Software (Malware) – Viruses – Worms – Spyware – Pop-Ups – SPAM Antivirus SW Subscription (Norman) Block Attachments Keep OS Updated (Check Monthly) Don’t load programs on PC Scan PC Regularly (Ad-Aware) Same as Spyware Use Pop-Up Blocker (Google Toolbar) ISP-provided SPAM Guards & Filters Use email client tools (Outlook) Block domains by country 3

Course Goals • From Syllabus: – COP 4910 serves as the “capstone experience” – The primary goal of this course is for students to learn how to understand plan for the effects of new technologies in the work place. – A secondary goal is the practice of communication skills necessary to propose and implement new technologies within an organization. • From an individual perspective: – Opportunity to research interesting & new technologies – Have a “senior project” you can be proud of and talk about or show to future employers 4

Work Required • In practical terms each of you should: : – – become an expert in the technology area under study conduct thorough research of your area of study prepare a professional report and presentation spent no less than 4 -5 hours per week on the above, not including attending presentations & status meetings. • Your final report and presentation should demonstrate that you have made this effort and met the course goals 5

Communication Skills • What are they? – – Non-Verbal Informal Verbal (meetings, conversations) Formal Verbal (presentations) Written (reports, correspondence, etc. ) • Who Needs them? – – Officers Upper Level Managers Lower Level Managers / Supervisors Technocrats / Production Workers • Remember – – Presentations can last an hour but reports can last for years! And first impressions may last forever. 6

What Constitutes a Quality Report (applies to all written deliverables) • Ideas/facts learned from research are well documented – show you understand topic by writing about it • Context, Technology, Implementation, Business Aspects – able to independently contrast technologies – understand impacts & able to draw conclusions • Report is well organized & well written • References are properly used and documented – www. lib. duke. edu/libguide/home. htm (Option 7) – http: //www. bedfordstmartins. com/online/ • Format is professional and consistent – Neatness does count 7

What is writing? • Numerous definitions. For this course: – “to compose and set down, especially in literary or musical form”, www. dictionary. com – “the act or practice of literary or musical composition”, www. merriam-webster. com – narrative must be original, you are the author/creator • Writing is not -– – – Copy & Paste (same as retyping source) Copy, Paste, & Delete Copy, Paste, Delete & Rearrange Copy, Paste, Delete, Rearrange & Reword Any of these is plagiarism. If I see any of these, you will get a “ 0”! 8

How to Avoid Plagiarism? • What is Plagiarism? – www. lib. duke. edu/libguide/plagiarism. htm – www. indiana. edu/~wts/plagiarism. html • Simple ways to help avoid plagiarism: – Use multiple sources • Combine information in a new way – Use acceptable paraphrasing & summarization • Don’t cut, paste & rearrange words – Learn source material(s) then put away before writing • Write what you learned using your own words – Use quotations if text comes directly from source • For your project, use this sparingly 9

One Approach to Writing • Research – Read variety of source material • Think – Understand source material and its implications • Type – Put down your own thoughts as best you can – Put similar topics together – feel free to move things around • Edit – Word smithing, turning a phrase, catch prepositional phrases – Does your writing say what you mean (compare with source material) and in the best way. • Proof – Spell & grammar check, missing/extra words, capitalization, punctuation, proper use of tense, singular vs. plural, etc. – Check formatting and fonts 10

Fonts & Formats • Most business reports / white papers include some or all of the following components: – – – – Title Page Executive Summary Table of Contents List of Figures, List of Tables Introduction Body of the Report Conclusions References (either footnotes or separate section) • See Course Website for suggested format 11

Top 10 List (again) • Each member of task force to prepare list of 10 emerging technologies that may have an effect on ABC Widget Company over the next 2 -5 years • Avoid previously investigated technologies – Wireless & satellite networking, 802 Protocols – VOIP, RFID, Digital Paper, or IPv 6 • For each technology: – One paragraph description – Citation for reference where information found • use at least 4 different sources for entire list – Must include at least 3 software technologies 12

Top 10 List (cont. ) • Use standard format with following sections: – – Title Page Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Top 10 Technologies • each tech as a separate 2 nd level heading – List of References • Email to me by midnight Saturday, May 15 th – Send single MS Word. doc file – No zipped files please • I will try and reply on Sunday with favorite five 13

Why all the work for a list? • I want to get you started using MS Word – By start of project, want each of you proficient in Word – Don’t want hours spent formatting, instead time should be spent on research and writing. – In business environment, short deadlines are the norm. • Can’t waste time “learning” a program. • No one’s going to send you to a class • No work is ever truly wasted – Prolific writers often reuse their own work – Build on previous publications / reports 14

What is Information Technology? • Answer depends on your point of view • What’s most important -- Changes over time: – – – CRTs Networks and Communications Database Managers & Office Automation Personal Computers Facsimile Machines & Cheap Long Distance Excel / Access Local Area Networking & Client/Server Computing Internet, Google & Email Lap Top Object Oriented Programming (java) My current favorite? • What do you think constitutes IT? • What’s important to you today and tomorrow? 15