Final Project. Introduction to Computers. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

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1 COURSE OBJECTIVES Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: 1. Investigate past and current computer models and the basics of hardware 2. Compare types of software and related issues 3. Outline uses of the internet and web-based tools 4. Analyze the impact of technological advances on privacy, ethics, and security issues related to computing CASE DESCRIPTION Print-R-Us, a nationally-based print shop with over 500 locations in the United States, has decided to institute an automated online ordering to replace its customer service representatives. Now, instead of giving their files to a customer service representative, customers can upload their files and submit orders over the internet. Customers can also walk into any store branch and order from automated kiosks in the store. Customers can either have their orders sent to them through the mail or pick up the orders at their local store. The customer service function has also been automated by moving it from a human to a searchable database in the cloud. Customers with questions can search for the answers online. For problems with orders, customers can put in an electronic ticket via and wait for a company representative to responds via . The transition to this will not be easy. First, many of the customer service employees will not be needed and will subsequently lose their jobs to the automation. The remaining customer service employees will be left in the stores to assist customers with using the automated ordering kiosks. Second, the customer service employees that remain will have to be trained on the new and switch to back-office positions that involve ordering and maintaining supplies and servicing print machines. In spite of the anticipated challenges, the company still believes that this type of change is a positive one in the long run. You have been hired by Print-R-Us as an IT consultant for the executives at the company. Your first task is to research and write a report for the company executives on the new. Your job is to explain the, describe how it will work, and detail how employees will help customers with it. Your report should also discuss the benefits of the for the company and how it improves the company s productivity, ethics, and privacy of information. Finally, your paper should make recommendations and suggestions for optimizing the use of the new that the company should follow in the areas of productivity, ethics, and privacy of information.

2 You are designing the from your own knowledge and imagination. PROJECT INSTRUCTIONS The deliverable for this project will be a research paper written in APA format (suggested length of 6-8 pages). Your paper should address the following issues: 1. System Background and Functionality. Provide a two-part description of the new. In the first part, describe the new in terms of its major functions (i.e. what it is able to do for the business). Explain at least two ways in which the new improves the old. For example, discuss which new function(s) replaces the old ones, why the company needs the new, and what the primary goal of the is. In the second part, describe how the new s will handle customer purchases, financial transactions, and customer service tasks such as answering questions and processing returns. What types of technology will be needed by the for these transactions? List at least two. 2. Productivity. Discuss how this new will improve productivity in customer handling, financial transactions, and customer service. Provide reasons and comparisons to the old to support your argument. In addition, discuss how the will directly affect the employees. What changes will the new bring to the employees productivity, work habits, communications, etc.? 3. Information Privacy. One potential problem with using online s is the challenge of keeping customer information private. First identify and discuss which information needs to be kept private and why. Discuss how the new could help protect users information through training, technology, and company practices. 4. Information Security. To protect customers privacy and identity, discuss which information from the should be stored in the cloud and which information should be stored on the company s local servers. What could be done to minimize the risk of security breaches and ensure the safety of the information? 5. Other Ethical Issues. Your report should discuss any ethical issues that may arise from customers using the new and from employees transitioning to the new. What concerns aside from information privacy and security might customers bring up when using the to upload images or store their information in the cloud? Share at least one suggestion on how the company should deal with these potential challenges. In addition, address one or more concerns that employees might have in working with an automated. 6. Summary. In the final section of your report, summarize the overall benefits that the new offers the company and its employees. Point out any drawbacks or challenges presented by the as well as how the company can deal with these issues.

3 PROJECT SUBMISSION 1. A title page is not required for project submissions. Because evaluators do not see student names when reviewing student work, it is important that students not include any personal identifiers in their project submissions. 2. If your project requires a video, you should post the video to a free video hosting site like or another free web hosting site. The following website maintains a list of video hosting sites: In the written materials that you submit as part of the assignment, you should include the title of the video and a link for the evaluator to use to grade your submission. Please make sure that the privacy settings on your video are set to allow third parties to view it. 3. When you are ready, click on the Upload Files button in the Project tab of your course to submit your assignment. Your project should be graded within 7 days. Please contact your instructor if this is not the case. 4. Your assignment will not be returned to you, so keep a copy for your files.

4 PROJECT RUBRIC First write the criteria for minimal passing standard, column 3. Using the metrics for the minimal pass, create a continuum. Qualifiers follow the continuum and are clear and precise. The stated objective or performance should be clearly tied to the deliverables of the project. 1 (Emerging) 2 (Limited) 3 (Minimal passing standard) 4 (Exemplary) Describe the overall background and functionality of the new (CO1, CO2) Does not describe the overall background and functionality Partially describes the overall background and functionality ; or description contains some minor errors Adequately describes the overall background and functionality; description contains no error Thoroughly describes the overall background and functionality; description contains substantial detail about the new Analyze the impact of the new on productivity (CO2, CO3) Does not analyze the impact of the on productivity for the company Partially analyzes the impact of the on productivity for the company Analyzes the impact of the on productivity for the company with adequate detail Thoroughly analyzes the impact of the on the productivity level of employees and the company as a whole Provide managing risks related to information privacy and security (CO3, CO4) Does not provide any recommendation for and security Provides only partial and security Provides adequate and security Provides thorough and security with specific examples Provide issues related to users of the Does not provide any the Provides only partial the Provides adequate the Provides thorough of the with details on situations deemed ethically

5 (CO3, CO4) challenging. Summarize the major benefits and drawback of the new (CO2, CO3) Does not summarize the benefits and Partially summarizes the benefits and Adequately summarizes the benefits and Thoroughly summarizes the benefits and with specific details on how the benefits/drawbacks affect the employees and the company Articulation / Presentation There are multiple writing convention errors that severely impede comprehension of the work. There are multiple writing convention errors that somewhat limit comprehension of the work. There are some writing convention errors, but they do not impede comprehension of the work. There are no detectable writing convention errors. APA format and referencing No attempt to cite resources in APA format is evident. The source citations have multiple APA formatting errors. The source citations have some APA formatting errors. Either the source citations follow APA formatting guidelines with no detectable errors, or no source citation was required for this submission. Evaluation Notes SME: V1 Created: These Evaluation Notes should be developed as you create the Project Template and Rubric. The notes will be generated mostly from the "minimal passing standard" column on the rubric.

6 In each section describe the "absolute musts" for a submission to receive the lowest passing scores. (You should have done this minimally in the project rubric, so you can use those descriptors as the foundation.) Then expound on that with enough information so that the evaluator will have sufficient information to score each student's submission fairly, evenly. Ensure that any section that has a right or wrong answer (things like mathematical calculations or accounting data) is included with the section descriptors. EV notes cannot suggest holding students to certain qualities in their responses that are not disclosed to the students in the project prompt and instructions. 1. Describe the overall background and functionality of the improved. Adequately describes the overall background and functionality; description contains no error. In the first part of this section, the student should accurately describe the new from the case study and provide adequate information about the new s functionality (i.e. what it is able to do) and at least two ways in which the new s improves the old. Some examples may include allowing customers the freedom to upload and submit orders anytime and anywhere and enabling the company to process orders/payments right away and remotely track order fulfillments. In the second part of the section, the student should go into more specific details about improvements on how the new will handle financial transactions and the delivery of product, perform automated customer service such as answering basic questions and processing returns. The student is also expected to name at least two types of technologies required by the to perform the tasks (improvements) above. Some examples may include cloud-based financial software for credit cards and receipts such as PayStand, Secure Instant Payments, Bluefin Payment Systems and so on. 2. Discuss the impact of the new on productivity. Discuss the impact of the on productivity for the company with adequate detail. In this section, the student should talk about how using an automated can help increase productivity as opposed to using the old. The student should outline how an automated (or a Cloud-based) would work for activities such as order handling and customer service. The student should provide several rationales and points of comparison to explain the increased productivity. For instance, the student might mention increased productivity as a result of 24/7 access from the online ordering, as opposed to waiting for a brick-and-mortar store to open. 3. Provide and security. Provide adequate and security. The student should clearly outline what type of information should be private such as customer financial information. For example, the student could address whether it is a good idea to have customers profiles on the company website. Then, the student might talk about the use of profiles as a way of marketing to potential customers and as a justification for allowing this particular information to be public. Another example may include storing customer payment information temporarily instead of keeping credit card information in a Cloud-based permanently. Further, the student should address information privacy breaches and how the company should handle those incidents. For instance, the company could

7 establish information privacy policies and the use of disclaimers, social media, and web-based tools to ensure that breaches are handled efficiently and in a professional manner. 4. Provide of the. Provides adequate the. In this section, students could discuss the ethical concerns over uploading images to the internet such as licensing and the use of non-public domain images by customers, profanity materials uploaded by customers, and how a printing company should handle specific instances that test the ethical bounds of running an automated printing business. In this section, students should also address the ethical issues surrounding a company that transitions to automated functions. The student should make recommendations on internal policies and programs that the company could utilize to stabilize employees morale from such directions and their handling of customer-produced images. 5. Summarize the major benefits and. Adequately summarizes the benefits and. In this section, the student is expected to explain the overall benefits of the new such as increased productivity, increased customer satisfaction, the use of new and exciting technology, error reduction, decreased employee fatigue, and workers with trained skills. In contrast, the student should also point out the drawbacks which may include job loss, lack of privacy, customer suspicion about information security, increased webbased expenses over time, and impersonal customer service.