Faculty Contact Information:
Prior to the start of the course, contact is via email.
Phone number will be provided at the first class meeting, and will be posted in the WebTycho classroom. | |
Consultation:
Profesor will be available in the classroom, 30 minutes prior to the beginning of each class and during the lunch break.
Class meetings are 18/19 Aug, 8/9 Sept, 22/23 Sept, 6/7 Oct | |
Required Texts and Readings:
- American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American psychological association (5th ed.). Washington, D.C.: APA.
- Post, G. V. and Anderson, D.L. (2006). Management Information Systems: Solving business problems with Information Technology (4th ed.) International Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin. ISBN 0-07-125732-2.
[Additional reading materials to be provided by the instructor.] | |
Supplementary Readings:
| All graduate students should be prepared to utilize the UMUC online library. The library contains a large number of full text academic journals that are free of charge and immediately available. The library homepage also contains a number of links related to improving students' research and writing skills. | |
Recommended Journals:
| Publications of the various professional societies (such as ACM -- the Association for Computing Machinery, the IEEE Computing Society, and the various management professional societies) are strongly recommended. In addition, there are many trade journals (such as eWEEK) that IT professionals should become familiar with, many of these being published both weekly and on-line. | |
Course Description:
| A fundamental study of technology and its applications, as well as the economic and social issues they have raised. Topics include computers, peripherals, databases, and networks; operations (of business, government, and other enterprises), decision-support systems, acquisition of information technology resources; and information security, productivity, equitable access by users, intellectual property rights, and global reach. Discussion also covers current and future developments in the field and their implications. | |
Course Goals:
Upon successful completion of this course, the student should understand and be able to apply knowledge concerning:
- Fundamentals of technology.
- Applications of technology.
- Economic and social issues raised by uses of technology.
- Current and emerging issues and trends in information technology.
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Course Objectives:
Upon successful completion, the student should be able to:
- Analyze the underlying nature of data and information such as its digital measure, characteristics, formats, and processing.
- Explain the principles of operation of the various components of information, such as computers, software, databases, and networks.
- Demonstrate how the components of information technology fit together to form useful systems that are responsive to organizational needs.
- Assess the utility of information technology in the operations, decision making, and investment of organizations.
- Identify and appraise the principal economic, social, and cultural issues raised by the applications of information technology.
- Show currency with events and developments in the information technology field.
- Assess the relevance of current events and developments in the information technology field to management practices and significance to social change.
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Grading Information:
The final grade will be determined as follows:
20% -- Midterm Examination
20% -- Final Examination
15% -- Paper and Presentation -- Current Topics in Computing Technology
15% -- Paper and Presentation -- Current Topics in Applications of Computing
10% -- In-class work and discussions
20% -- Out-of-class Word - discussions and individual exercises
Last date to withdraw is Friday, 5 October.
According to the Graduate School grading policy, the following symbols and scale are used:
A = excellent (90-100)
B = good (80-89)
C = passing (70-79)
F = failure (less than 70)
The grade of "B" represents the benchmark for the Graduate School. It indicates the student has demonstrated competency in the subject matter of the course, i.e., has fulfilled all course requirements on time, has a clear grasp of the full range of course materials and concepts, and is able to present and apply these materials and concepts in clear, reasoned, well-organized and grammatically correct responses, whether written or oral.
Only students who fully meet this standard and, in addition, who demonstrate exceptional comprehension and application of the course subject matter, merit an "A."
Students who do not meet the benchmark standard of competency fall within the "C" range or lower. They, in effect, have not met graduate level standards. Where this failure is substantial, they earn an "F." | |
Course Requirements:
The course requirements are as follows:
Examinations:
Midterm and Final examinations will be given in-class. Each exam will have both an open-book part and a closed-book part.
Current Topics Papers and Presentations:
By its very physical nature, a printed textbook cannot contain the latest information. Broadly speaking, this course has two major facets how computing works (Computing Technology) and how it is used (Applications of Computing). These two assignments provide the students with the opportunity to find, write up, and share with others up-to-date information on pre-approved topics in these two areas. Papers are to be at least 5 single-spaced pages in length, and are to make use of multiple on-line and print sources with publication dates at least as recent as the copyright of the textbook. More information will be provided the first weekend of the course, and via WebTycho.
In-Class Work:
There will be individual and group work during the class meetings to reinforce lecture content, and to allow students to share relevant real-world experiences. If you must be absent and wish to make up for missed work in this area, ask the professor -- there are alternatives.
Out-of-Class Work:
There will be assignments of discussion topics and individual exercises to be submitted via WebTycho during the weeks between face-to-face meetings. This allows for the professor to give feedback on individual work much sooner that if homework were submitted on paper in class, and allows for the class to keep in touch discussing relevant topics between class meetings. If you have difficulty accessing WebTycho, contact the professor for alternative means of fulfilling these requirements. | |
Description of Course Requirements:
Successful graduate students in American universities dedicate approximately three hours of preparation/study time for every hour spent in the face-to-face classroom. Thus, the following course requirements were developed on the assumption that students would be prepared to spend approximately 150 hours of their own time working on them. In an 8-week term, that is the equivalent of a half-time job. Most 14-week graduate distance education courses require at least 10 hours per week of dedicated time, plus time spent in the virtual classroom.
STATEMENT ON WRITING REQUIREMENTS:
Effective managers and leaders are also effective communicators. Written communication is an important element of the total communication process. The Graduate School recognizes and expects exemplary writing to be the norm for course work. To this end, all analyses and papers must demonstrate graduate level writing ability and comply with the format requirements of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. All writing assignments will be graded on the basis of content, logic, analysis, mechanics, organization, and research. Careful attention should be given to source citations, proper listing of references, the use of footnotes, and the presentation of tables and graphs. Work submitted online should follow standard procedures for formatting and citation.
POLICY ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
Academic integrity is central to the learning and teaching process. Students are expected to conduct themselves in a manner that will contribute to the maintenance of academic integrity by making all reasonable efforts to prevent the occurrence of academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty includes (but is not limited to) obtaining or giving aid on an examination, having unauthorized prior knowledge of an examination, doing work for another student, and plagiarism of all types.
PLAGIARISM:
Plagiarism is the intentional or unintentional presentation of another person's idea or product as one's own. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to the following: copying verbatim all or part of another's written work; using phrases, charts, figures, illustrations, or mathematical or scientific solutions without citing the source; paraphrasing ideas, conclusions, or research without citing the source; and using all or part of a literary plot, poem, film, musical score, or other artistic product without attributing the work to its creator. Students can avoid unintentional plagiarism by following carefully accepted scholarly practices. Notes taken for papers and research projects should accurately record sources of material to be cited, quoted, paraphrased, or summarized, and papers should acknowledge these sources in footnotes. The penalties for plagiarism include a zero or a grade of F on the work in question, a grade of F in the course, suspension with a file letter, suspension with a transcript notation, or expulsion.
Resubmission of course work from previous classes (whether or not taken at UMUC, UMUC-Europe or BSU), partially or in its entirety, is not acceptable in this course and will result in an automatic failure on the assignment.
DISABLED STUDENTS:
Students with disabilities should contact the Director of Student Services, phone: +49-6221-378299, email: edstudent_svc@ed.umuc.edu, mailing address: Unit 29216. APO AE 09102 or Im Bosseldorn 30, D-69126 Heidelberg, Germany.
COURSE EVALUATIONS:
Feedback on each graduate course and instructor is important to the university, your professor, and to all UMUC students. UMUC has the responsibility to assess the effectiveness of classroom instruction, and each student has the responsibility to provide accurate and timely feedback through completion of the course evaluation form. This is a shared obligation for us all. It is therefore important that you complete the evaluation form for each course you attend. This should be viewed as an additional course and program requirement. | |
Course Schedule:
Projected course schedule:
Sat 18 Aug - AM: Introduction
- Introductions, Discussion of Course Requirements
- Definition of Information Technology
- The Importance and Role of Information Technology
Readings: Post and
Anderson, Chapter 1
Technology Basics I: Data and Information
- Definition and Measure of Information
- Digital Representation (bits and bytes)
- Formats (numbers, characters, sound, images, video)
- Processing (e.g., 32-bit vs. 64-bit)
- Error Correction
- Compression
Readings: Post and Anderson, Chapter 2 (pp. 38-47)
Sat 18 Aug - PM: Technology Basics II: Hardware
- Computers
- Processors
- Input and Output Devices
- Storage
Readings: Post and Anderson, Chapter 2 (pp. 47-56)
Sun 19 Aug - AM: Technology Basics III: Software
- Operating Systems
- Application Programs
Readings: Post and Anderson, Chapter 2 (pp. 56-65)
Networks and Telecommunication
- Network Functions
- Network Components
- Protocols and Standards
- The Internet
- Telecommunications
Readings: Post and Anderson, Chapter 3
Sun 19 Aug - PM: Databases
- Relational
- Queries
- Object Oriented
- Search Engines
Readings: Post and Anderson, Chapter 4
Sat 8 Aug - AM: Security
- Threats
- Controls and Defenses
- Cryptography
- Privacy
Readings: Post and Anderson, Chapter 5
Sat 8 Aug - PM: Applications I: General Production
- Operations
- Transactions
- Electronic Data Interchange
Readings: Post and Anderson, Chapter 6
Sun 9 Sept - AM: Midterm Examination
Sun 9 Sept - PM: Presentations on Current Topics in Computing Technology
Sat 22 Sept: Applications II: Enterprise Integration
- Enterprise Resource Planning
- Supply Chain Management
- Marketing/Customer Relationship Management
Readings: Post and Anderson,
Chapter 7
Applications III: Electronic Commerce
- Web Services
- Mobile Services
Readings: Post and Anderson, Chapter 8
Teamwork
- Collaboration
- Knowledge Management
- Artificial Intelligence/Expert Systems
Readings: Post and Anderson, Chapter 9
Sun 23 Sept: Decision Support
- OLAP
- Data Warehousing and Data Marts
- Data Mining
Readings: Post and Anderson, Chapter 10
Strategic Analysis
- Competitive Environment
- Innovation
- Entrepreneurship
Readings: Post and Anderson, Chapter 11
Systems Development and Acquisition
- Systems Development Approaches
- Hardware Acquisition
- Software Acquisition
Readings: Post and Anderson, Chapter 12
Last date to withdraw is Friday, 5 October.
Sat 6 Oct: Economic, Social and Cultural Issues
- Security
- Productivity
- Intellectual Property
- Outsourcing
- Globalization
- Equitable User Access
- Net Neutrality
- Regulatory Considerations
- Global impact of the Internet
Readings: Post and Anderson, Chapters 13 and 14
Sun 7 Oct - AM: Final Examination
Sun 7 Oct - PM: Presentations on Current Topics in Applications of Computing | |
Academic Policies:
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The University has a license agreement with Turnitin.com, a service that helps prevent plagiarism from internet resources. I may be using this service in this class by either requiring students to submit their papers electronically to Turnitin.com or by submitting questionable text on behalf of a student. If you or I submit part or all of your paper, it will be stored by Turnitin.com in their database throughout the term of the University's contract with Turnitin.com. If you object to this temporary storage of your paper, you must let me know no later than two weeks after the start of this class. Please Note: If you object to the storage of your paper on Turnitin.com, I may utilize other services to check your work for plagiarism
The official university policy on Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty can be found at http://www.umuc.edu/policy/aa15025.shtml. Section I.C. states: "Faculty may determine if the resubmission of course work from previous classes (whether or not taken at UMUC), partially or in its entirety, is acceptable when assigning a grade on that piece of course work. Faculty must provide this information in their written syllabi. If the resubmission of course work is deemed to be unacceptable, a charge may not be brought under this Policy and will be handled as indicated in the written syllabi."
Please refer to Description of Course Requirements for specific information on how resubmissions will be treated in this course.
Students with disabilities should contact the appropriate support office at UMUC-Europe.
Jan Keller, Director of Student Services
UMUC-Europe, Heidelberg
Phone: +49-6221-378299
Email: edstudent_svc@ed.umuc.edu
Mailing Address: Unit 29216, APO AE 09102 OR Im Bosseldorn 30, D-69126 Heidelberg, Germany
Please refer to the UMUC-Europe Graduate Catalog for information on the following:
Academic Integrity
Course Load
Exception to Policy
Grade Appeal Process
Make-up Examinations
Nondiscrimination
Code of Civility
Hard copies of the catalog are available at your local Education Center. | |
Faculty Bio:
| Dr. Dean earned the BA in Mathematics from Vanderbilt University, and the MS and PhD in Computer Science from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She has worked at various times as a programmer, programmer/analyst, systems analyst, and project manager in the areas of medical information systems, small business support, and life insurance. Since 1975, she has been involved in teaching and curriculum development in computing, most recently at Samford University in Birmingham, AL, prior to joining UMUC - Europe. She has served for several years on the Board of Directors, and currently serves as President, of the Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges (CCSC). She serves on the Regional Board of the CCSC Southeastern Conference, and as Associate Editor of the Journal for Computing Sciences in Colleges. Her areas of interest include curriculum development, database management systems, programming languages, and information security. | |