Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1.
Why is the study of information systems important to you?
What do you hope to learn from this course to make it
worthwhile?
would you want to build a model of their learning pro-
cesses? What kinds of models would you create? Why
might you create more than one type of model?
8. Describe the “ideal” automated vehicle license plate
renewal system for the drivers in your state. Describe the
input, processing, output, and feedback associated with
this system.
9. What computer application needs the most improvement
at your college or university? Describe how systems devel-
opment could be used to develop it.
10. Discuss how information systems are linked to the business
objectives of an organization.
11. What are your career goals and how can a computer-based
information system be used to achieve them?
2.
Describe how information systems are used at school or
work.
3.
What is the value of software? Give several examples of
software you use at school or home.
4.
Why is a database an important part of a computer-based
information system?
5.
What is the difference between e-commerce and
m-commerce?
6.
What is the difference between DSS and knowledge
management?
7.
Suppose that you are a teacher assigned the task of describ-
ing the learning processes of preschool children. Why
PROBLEM-SOLVING EXERCISES
1.
Prepare a data disk and a backup disk for the problem-
solving exercises and other computer-based assignments
you will complete in this class. Create one directory for each
chapter in the textbook (you should have 14 directories).
As you work through the problem-solving exercises and
complete other work using the computer, save your assign-
ments for each chapter in the appropriate directory. On the
label of each disk or USB flash drive, be sure to include your
name, course, and section. On one disk write “Working
Copy”; on the other write “Backup.”
company's public relations department, Web pages on the
Internet, etc.). Use word processing software to prepare a
one-page summary of the different resources you tried and
their ease of use and effectiveness.
3.
Create a table that lists ten or more possible career areas,
annual salaries, and brief job descriptions, and rate how
much you would like the career area on a scale from 1 (don't
like) to 10 (like the most). Print the results. Sort the table
according to annual salaries from high to low and print the
resulting table. Sort the table from the most liked to least
liked and print the results.
2.
Search through several business magazines (
Business Week,
Computerworld, PC Week,
etc.) for a recent article that dis-
cusses the use of information systems to deliver significant
business benefits to an organization. Now use other
resources to find additional information about the same
organization (
Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature
, online
search capabilities available at your school's library, the
4.
Do some research to obtain estimates of the rate of growth
of social networking sites like MySpace and FaceBook. Use
the plotting capabilities of your spreadsheet or graphics
software to produce a bar chart of that growth over a num-
ber of years. Share your findings with the class.
TEAM ACTIVITIES
1.
Before you can do a team activity, you need a team! As a
class member, you might create your own team, or your
instructor might assign members to groups. After your
group has been formed, meet and introduce yourselves
to each other. Find out the first name, hometown, major,
e-mail address, and phone number of each member. Find
out one interesting fact about each member of your team
as well. Brainstorm a name for your team. Put the infor-
mation on each team member into a database and print
enough copies for each team member and your instructor.
