All papers submitted to Turnitin become part of Turnitin's reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism. Use of Turnitin is subject to the Usage Policy as posted on the Turnitin.com web site.

You will receive Turnitin account information from your instructor. Information about Turnitin and how to use is at:
http://socrates.uhwo.hawaii.edu/library/turnitin/turnitinstudentinformation.html.

Use the Webopedia at http://webopedia.com to find definitions of computer and Internet terms you don't know. Start at the Library's online research page at http://socrates.uhwo.hawaii.edu/library/explore.htm when you have to do research for this or other classes. If you are off campus, you will need to know your 8-digit UH number to access these databases.

The World Wide Web is always changing. The web links below were all good in January 2007, but that is no guarantee they will always work properly. Report broken links to Eric Flower when you find them.

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Class 1. Monday, January 8 on "Orientation to the Course and The Internet"

Click here for definitions of Internet terms used in Class 1.

Assignments due Wednesday, January 17:

1. We'll use the University's WebCT system for class communications including e-mail and chat. That means you must know your UH username and password.
2. Text: Read pages 14-32.
3. Read "History of the Future," a short piece on the Internet.
4. Read the "Summary Findings" (pages i-viii) of "The Future of the Internet II," published in September 2006 by the Pew Internet & American Life Project at http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Future_of_Internet_2006.pdf.
5. Read "Online Research Worries Many Educators" from the Associated Press news wire, December 8, 2004.
6. Go to the Library's online resources page at http://socrates.uhwo.hawaii.edu/library/explore.htm and then search in the EbscoHost Web Academic Search Premier database for "An Excuse to Use My Name 16 Times" by Joel Stein from Time, March 20, 2000. Why is this funny column also an important article?
7. Look at "Web Searching, Sleuthing and Sifting" by Angela Elkordy at http://www.thelearningsite.net/cyberlibrarian/searching/ismain.html for in-depth coverage of searching the Web.
8. Read "Plagiarism, Turnitin, and Academic Honesty for Students at UH West O'ahu."

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Class 2. Wednesday, January 10 on the "Internet and The World Wide Web"

Assignments due Wednesday, January 17:

1. Look at these Internet use statistics from Internet World at http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats2.htm.
2. Read "Cyberslacking" by Keith Naughton in Newsweek, November 29, 1999.
3. Read "Virtually Addicted: A lawsuit against IBM is reviving debate over whether Web overuse may be classified as an addiction" by Catherine Holahan, online at BusinessWeek.com, December 14, 2006.
4. Text: Read pages 33-39.
5. Go to the Library's online resources page at http://socrates.uhwo.hawaii.edu/library/explore.htm and then search in the EbscoHost Web Academic Search Premier database for "Disaster Proof Your Business" by Rivka Tadjer from PC Computing, January 2000. Read the introduction and the "Nuisance Lawsuits" sections.
6. Go to the Library's online resources page at http://socrates.uhwo.hawaii.edu/library/explore.htm and then search in the EbscoHost Web Computer Source database for "What Your Workers Are Really Up To" by Kayte VanScoy from the September 2001 issue of Ziff Davis Smart Business. Read it.
7. Go to the Library's online resources page at http://socrates.uhwo.hawaii.edu/library/explore.htm and then search in the EbscoHost Web Academic Search Premier database for "Snooping Bosses" from the September 11, 2006 issue of Time magazine. Read it.
8. Read Employee Monitoring: Is There Privacy in the Workplace? (2006) from the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.
9. For an historical summary of e-mail and the law, see "Privacy in Cyberspace: Is Your E-mail Safe From the Boss, the SysOp, the Hackers, and the Cops?" by Ann Beeson, ACLU, 1996.

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No class Monday, January 15th due to Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.

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Class 3. Wednesday, January 17 on "E-Mail"

Assignments due Monday, January 22:

1. Read "World Wide Access: Accessible Web Design" at http://www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/Technology/universal.design.html. In addition to the material on accessibility, pay special attention to the section on "General Page Design."
2. Look at The Web Style Guide to see a comprehensive description of web site planning and design.
3. Use the EbscoHost Web Computer Source database to find and read "LAB NOTES: Top 5 Web Sites Don'ts" by Christine Wendin from the September 2000 issue of Ziff-Davis Smart Business for the New Economy, and "What Makes Customers Click" by Jason Toates on eye tracking from the June 2000 issue of Ziff-Davis Smart Business for the New Economy.

   Longer Term Assignments:

   Visions Critical Review: The first draft of your critical review of Parts I and II (through page 135--don't read the whole book!) of "Visions: How Science Will Revolutionize the 21st Century" is due Monday, March 12th. The first draft will be about 5 pages double-spaced (5 points). The final draft (also double-spaced) is due Monday, April 16th (5 points). You may turn these in earlier if you like.

   Refer to the Writing Center handout entitled "Writing a Critique" and watch a 15 minute streaming video clip before you begin to read the book and write the review.

   Submit both versions of your Visions critique to Turnitin, the UHWO online plagiarism prevention and detection service. You will receive Turnitin account information from your instructor.

   How and what you write matters. For instance, take the sentence below. There are seven places in it where the word only might appear, and each one renders a slightly different meaning.

   ¹ Thelma ² told ³ Standish ⁴ that ⁵ she ⁶ loved ⁷ him.

   Do you see how word placement matters? This exercise is from William G. Connolly's New York Times Stylebook column for December 31, 2000.

   Group Presentations: "Personal Computing Trends and Forecasts." We will create four groups to make 25-30 minute PowerPoint presentations near the end of the semester. They will be on personal computing hardware, software, and trends and forecasts in the business desktop and business laptop markets. We'll concentrate on the products and activities of four companies-- Intel, AMD, Microsoft, and Dell.

   Eight points will be awarded for content, four points for presentation design, and three points for each individual's contribution. Content and design points will be awarded based on "Evaluating Presentations." Individual contribution points will be determined jointly by the group members. Be honest in your assessment of the contribution of others. If somebody worked extremely hard and made an exceptional contribution, say so. And if somebody was a slacker, note that too. If you don't contribute, you earn no points.

   For more information about slackers, read "Scientists Tackle the Slacker Problem." The original article, "Indirect Reciprocity Can Stabilize Cooperation Without the Second-order Free Rider Problem," by Karthik Panchanathan and Robert Byrd, may be found in Nature, November 25, 2004, Volume 432, Issue 7016, pages 499-502.

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   Class 4. Monday, January 22 on "Web Sites and FTP"

   Assignments due Monday, January 29:

   1. Look at the web sites listed below and write a paragraph about the audience, content, and layout of each one. E-mail your descriptions to Eric Flower in WebCT.
      • ZDNet site
      • Cnet.com's Tech News First site
      • The State of Hawai'i site
      • Eric Flower's site for this class
   2. Text: Read pages 62-99.

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   Class 5. Wednesday, January 24 on "PC Basics"

   Assignment due Monday, January 29:

   1. Text: Read pages 126-136; 184-197.

   

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   Class 6. Monday, January 29 on "The Windows Operating System"

   Assignments due Wednesday, January 31:

   1. Listen to the first 20-25 minutes of NPR's "Talk of the Nation, Science Friday" radio show broadcast July 7, 2000 on "The Future of Computing." It's a discussion featuring David Gelernter, Professor of Computer Science at Yale, and Michael Dertouzos, Director of the Laboratory for Computer Science at MIT.
   2. Read "Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom" at http://www.systems-thinking.org/dikw/dikw.htm.
   3. Here's a list of Data Formats and Their File Extensions.

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   Class 7. Wednesday, January 31, "Finish Windows and Review for Test 1"

   • Prepare for Test 1 on Monday, February 5.

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   Class 8. Monday, February 5, "Test 1"

   Test 1 on the Internet, the Web, e-mail, FTP, PC Basics, and Windows. (10 points)

   Assignment due Wednesday, February 7:

   1. Read the executive summary of "The Document Life Cycle: A White Paper" prepared for The Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM International) by William Saffady, School of Information Science and Policy, State University of New York at Albany at http://www.aiim.org/fbia/documents/saffady.pdf.

   

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   Class 9. Wednesday, February 7 on "Documents and Microsoft Word"

   Assignments due Monday, February 12:

   1. Text: Read 137-155.
   2. Raymond Panko of UH Manoa has done a lot of work on errors in worksheets. You should read his summary paper called "What We Know About Spreadsheet Errors." More of Panko's error research is at http://panko.cba.hawaii.edu/ssr.
   3. Read "formulas, syntax requirements" and "functions, worksheet" in the Excel help menu. Note: These titles will vary slightly depending on which version of Excel you have on your computer.

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   Class 10. Monday, February 12 on "Spreadsheets and Worksheets: Microsoft Excel"

   

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   Class 11. Wednesday, February 14 on "Spreadsheets and Worksheets--Charts and Graphs: Microsoft Excel"

   Assignments due Wednesday, February 21:

   1. Read the brief note Object Linking and Embedding.
   2. Read "Evaluating Presentations."
   3. Read "The Level of Discourse Continues to Slide" about the potential deadening (and deadly) effects of a bad PowerPoint presentation.
   4. Read "PowerPoint Is Evil: Power Corrupts. PowerPoint Corrupts Absolutely" by Edward Tufte in the September 2003 issue of Wired.
   5. Read "Presenting Papers at AACE Conferences: Getting Started" at http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/presenternotes.htm.

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   No class Monday, February 19th due to President's Day holiday.

   

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   Class 12. Wednesday, February 21 on "Presentations: Microsoft PowerPoint"

   Assignment due Monday, February 26:

   1. Look at David Kelley's mind map for presentations from Business Week, September 25, 2006.
   2. Read an August 20, 2006 New York Times article by Matt Villano called "Recovering a Fumble At the Flip Chart." It's about how to handle the fallout from a botched presentation. Use the Access World News newspaper database at http://socrates.uhwo.hawaii.edu/library/otherdatabases.html#a to find it.

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   Class 13. Monday, February 26 on "Presentations: Microsoft PowerPoint"

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   Class 14. Wednesday, February 28 on "Putting It All Together with Object Linking and Embedding"

   • Prepare for Test 2 on March 5.

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   Class 15. Monday, March 5 "Test 2" in a Proctored Location

   Test 2 on Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and "Putting it All Together" with Object Linking and Embedding (OLE). (15 points)

   Assignment due Wednesday, March 7:

   1. Text: Read pages 552-574.

   

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   Class 16. Wednesday, March 7 on "Databases"

   • First outline of group presentation on computer hardware and software trends due.

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   Class 17. Monday, March 12 on "Databases: Microsoft Access"

   • First draft of Visions critique due. Upload to Turnitin, assignment 1, "Visions critique first draft, Spring 2007" (5 points).

     First report on group project participation due.

   Assignments due Wednesday, March 14:

   1. Read about Bruce Tuckman's group development model at http://www.catalystonline.com/training/files/accelerating_team_development.pdf.
   2. Read Mary Mallott's presentation on Tuckman's model at http://socrates.uhwo.hawaii.edu/BusAd/Flower/330/tuckman/index.htm.
   3. Watch Mary Mallott's class on Tuckman's Model.
   4. Read Richard Brislin's Culture Clash column entitled "Work in Groups Can Affect Individual Contributions" in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Sunday, January 12, 2003, page E6.

   

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   Class 18. Wednesday, March 14 on "Tuckman's Group Development Model"

   Assignments due Monday, March 19:

   1. Text: Review Figure 2-7 (Computer System Unit) on page 66.
   2. Read "How to Buy a PC in 2007: A step-by-step strategy for buying a desktop that meets your needs—and your budget" by Troy Dreier from the January 2007 issue of Computer Shopper.
   3. Read "Corporate Visions of Personal Computing Space." Pay attention to the trends, not the computer specifications.

   

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   Class 19. Monday, March 19 "Purchasing PCs: Components and Peripherals"

   Assignments due Wednesday, March 21:

   1. Read Windows XP Professional System Requirements and Windows Vista Capable PC Hardware Guidelines.
   2. Look at the small business desktop lines at the www.Dell.com and www.Gateway.com web sites.
   3. Read "Seven Strategies for Highly Effective Buyers" by Leon Erlanger from the February 21, 2005 issue of InfoWorld at http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/02/18/08FEsourcing_1.html.

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Class 20. Wednesday, March 21 on "Purchasing PCs: Decision Support Worksheets"

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No classes Monday, March 26th and Wednesday, March 28th due to Spring Break.

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Class 21. Monday, April 2 on "Purchasing PCs: The Procurement Process"

Assignments due Wednesday, April 4:

1. Text: Read pages 238-265.
2. Read Networking Definitions.
3. Go to Internet.com's Webopedia and read the definitions for networks, local area networks, and Ethernet. Follow the links presented in the text. (And it wouldn't hurt to look at some of the related terms.)
4. Watch the 15 minute video about the West O'ahu network at http://uhtv.hawaii.edu:7070/ramgen/courses/flower/wiringcloset.smil.
5. Watch the Cisco Cluster Management Suite multimedia file at http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/779/smbiz/multimedia/. Click on the link that says "Launch Cisco CMS Preview" to view it.

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Class 22. Wednesday, April 4 on "Local Area Networks "

Assignments due Monday, April 9:

1. Text: Read pages 198-216.
2. Go to the Library's online resources page at http://socrates.uhwo.hawaii.edu/library/explore.htm and then search in the EbscoHost Web Academic Search Premier database for "Disaster Proof Your Business" by Rivka Tadjer from PC Computing, January 2000. Read all of the sections.
3. Read "Data Protection Risk Analysis Self-Test" by Donna Williams.

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Class 23. Monday, April 9 on "Data Security"

• Final outline and first slides of PowerPoint group presentations due.

Assignments due Wednesday, April 11:

1. Text: Read pages 490-499.
2. Look at "Porter's Five Forces: A Model for Industry Analysis" at http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/porter.shtml.
3. Read "Competition, Technology, and Planning for Libraries and Information Services: Theorists, Critics, and Commentators" by Eric Flower, Librarian, University of Hawai‘i-West O‘ahu, USA.

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Class 24. Wednesday, April 11 on "Information Systems in Organizations"

Assignment due Monday, April 16:

1. Text: Read pages 500-521.
2. Read "Why IT Projects Fail" by Taimour Al Neimat of PROJECT PERFECT: Project Management Information, Information and White Papers for Project Managers.
3. Read "Why Software Fails" by Robert N. Charette from the IEEE Spectrum Online, September 2005.

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Class 25. Monday, April 16 on "Developing Effective Information Systems I"

• Final draft of Visions review due. Upload it to Turnitin, assignment 1b, Revision 2. (5 points)

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Class 26. Wednesday, April 18 on "Developing Effective Information Systems II"

• Final slides of PowerPoint group presentations due.

  Second report on group project participation due.

  Prepare for Test 3 on Monday, April 23.

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Class 27. Monday, April 23 "Test 3"

Test 3 on PC architecture and marketplace, LANs, data security, and information systems. (20 points).

• Take home part of final exam distributed (10 points).

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Class 28. Wednesday, April 25 "Group Presentations Begin"

Presentations will be about 25-30 minutes long. There will be time for questions and answers afterward. Eight points will be awarded for content, four points for presentation design, and three points for each individual's contribution. Content and design points will be awarded based on "Evaluating Presentations." Individual contribution points will be determined jointly by the group members. Be honest in your assessment of the contribution of others. If somebody worked extremely hard and made an exceptional contribution, say so. And if somebody was a slacker, note that too. If you don't contribute, you earn no points.

Presentation schedule:
6:15 p.m. Transfer files and setup
6:30 p.m. "Intel Presentation"
7:05 p.m. "AMD Presentation"

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Class 29. Monday, April 30 "Group Presentations Conclude"

Presentation schedule:
6:15 p.m. Transfer files and setup
6:30 p.m. "Microsoft Presentation"
7:05 p.m. "Dell Presentation"

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Class 30. Wednesday, May 2 "The Future?"

Microsoft's "Information at Your Fingertips 2005" video will be shown. This video was made and originally shown during 1994. It was Microsoft's vision of what the computing environment would look like in the year 2005. While you watch, take notes on the software, hardware, and networks that you do or don't see.

Here is some background on "Information At Your Fingertips: 2005."

On November 14, 1994, Bill Gates, chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft, again gave the keynote address at Fall COMDEX. Describing his vision of the future, he painted a picture of the tremendous opportunities technology will bring each of us by the year 2005. The essence of that vision is at: http://www.microsoft.com/billgates/speeches/IndustryandTech/iayf2005.aspx.
Be sure to look at the links at the bottom of the page which cover the following topics: Better Ways of Doing Business Mobile Computing Will Keep You in Touch Smart Technology for Education Technology Brings the World Home Microsoft's Role

• Prepare for final exam on Wednesday, May 9 from 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

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Class 31. Wednesday, May 9, from 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Final Exam in a Proctored Location.

1. All O'ahu students will take the final exam in the Computer Lab at the regularly scheduled date and time of May 9th from 6 to 8 pm.
2. All other students will take the exam on May 10th at a place and time agreed to by Eric Flower.

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Click here to return to the course home page.

Last modified March 17, 2007.
Copyright 2007 Eric Flower