This week the final week before examinations i ahve to post an entry to your blog that answers the following questions:

1) What was the most difficult assessment item you completed in COIS20025 this term ?

    Ans. The most difficult assessment this term was the 1st assessment as it required us to cahnge the way we used to work previously in our previous organisation.It was the first time was making an assignment by the method of research and i was thinking of what can be done and if it can be done how to begin the assignment.

In most the aasignment i was not sure what is required to do to start an assignment because the most difficult step is the first step rest all steps keep on falling in place and then you tend to master the art of doing such a work quickly and with ease.

2) What was difficult about it and how would you suggest it could be improved?

Ans. If i was to tell the truth about what was the most difficult part in the assignment then i would say that it was the use of the references and to find the references on the library website as i had never searched for educational articles on a website and too the university website, nor i have ever made any type of assignment.

I would suggest that all the students should be given a dumy assignment to be made and then every one should make that assignment with the help of the tutor because a tutor is the best person to tell you how to make an assigmnet, what this will do is when students make a assignment along with the tutor they ted to learn more as they get a hang of things, rather than staright away starting an assignment.

3) Name three (3) things you learnt this term in COIS20025.

Ans. The three things i learnt in this term for COIS 20025 are:-

1) Report making

2) Referencing

3) ERD’s

4) How will you be able to use this knowledge/these skills in your future career?

Ans. The knowledge and skills that i have picked uo during this course would help me in the longer run when iwill be resarching for articles to make reports for my organisation or while i am searching for a possible innovaions for the betterments of the innovations.

They will also help me while i have to define a complex project system to an organisation when i have to expalain my project to the industry, making ERD’s will help any time i have to represent any system or project graphilcaly using a data flow diagram.

Referncing would help me to do the closing of my reports, assignments and other major projects properly and legally in which i have used the help of other sources apart from what i have used on my own and articles of answers from other sourses say online sourses or newspapers or websites every thing that is is not mine i ahve to mention it properly and referencing would help me any time everywhere.

This week for our blog we have to give one example each of the four maintenance activities, which are

1) Corrective maintenance : – It is used at places were we need to fix errors.

The examples given below are taken from text book page 478.

Shelly, Cashman, & Rosenblatt(2006, p.478) Its responsibilities include diagnosing and fixing logical errors. Replacing defective cables an then restoring proper configuration of the default settings. It also installs updated drivers along with debugging program codes and then installing the software patch.

2) Addaptive maintenance : – It adds a new capability and enhancements

The examples given below are taken from text book page 478.

Shelly, Cashman, & Rosenblatt(2006, p.478) It is used to add online capability,create new reports and installing links to the websites. It is also used to make employee database and add new entries in the data field of the input screen.

3) Perfective maintenance : – It is used to improve the efficiency of the product.

The examples given below are taken from text book page 478.

Shelly, Cashman, & Rosenblatt(2006, p.478) It is used to add additional memory and to write macros which help to prevent in repetetion of tasks. It compresses system files along with optimizing users desktops settings. In this process we install powerful network servers and also developing a library for the codes to made reusable.

Preventative maintenance : – Is used to reduce the causes and possibilities of future system failures.

The examples given below are taken from text book page 478.

Shelly, Cashman, & Rosenblatt(2006, p.478) It includes the responsibilities of installing new anti-virus software’s, developing standard backup schedule for system safety and security. It also insures that implementation of a reliable defragmentation process is done to make the system secure. Analyzing the pattern in which the problems occur and tightening all relevant cable connections properly. 

This blog post for this week asks me to discuss the four System Changeover methods that are given in the course textbook and are used while implementing a New Information System online and deleting the Old Information System from the operational business. This System Changeover method may be useful in changing the manual operations of Capricornia Car Pool System (CCPA) and implementing the new system the way they would like to and is feasible to them. The Four Changeover Methods are:- 

1)     Direct Cutover is when the old system is deleted with immediate effect without taking into account the risk factor “Nor” by taking any backup of the data stored and used by the old system. 2)     Parallel Operations is when both the New System and the Old System are made to run together for a given period of time which is also the slowest method. 

3)     Pilot Operation is when the new system is implemented and used as a test system by some people and a part of the organization for an undefined period of time.  4)     Phased Operation is when the changeover from the old system to the new system is done in parts over a period of time slowly and steadily. 

The benefits and problems associated with implementation of these methods in CCPA are discussed below. 

Direct Cutover:- The Direct Cutover method is such very quick way of implementing a new information system and is the most cost effective way of changing from old information system to new information system. It is also easy to manage as the resource people just have to manage one system at a time which they can do without any problems, and with the CCPA which had been working on manual system earlier on it would not be that difficult to implement and then maintain the new system.  There are a couple of problems with the implementation of Direct Cutover method as there is a high risk involved with such changeover methods as there are no backups are taken while implanting such a method. In this sort of change over even small errors are hard to resolve as the root or extent is hard to find since error can occur at any time or place and by anyone who is using this new system. Parallel Operation: -This type of changeover methods is a good way of implementing the new as in this system both the new system and the old system are made to run parallel to each other the one major benefit is the level of risk involved with such a method is very low as they always have the old system to fall back on if by some means the new system does not work or crashes or develops a error. 

The major drawback of implementing this type of changeover method is that it is very expensive.The other problem is that if the old system and the new system are not compatible this system changeover method can not be implemented. 

Pilot Operations: -In this type of system changeover method the new system is implemented in a organization in specific location while the old method is still running in the rest of the locations were the organization has it operations this method can be very useful for CCPA as it would be able to review the new system for some time and if they find it useful they can implement it throughout the CCPA. There is less risk involved and the cost involved is also very less with this type of system changeover.                      Phased Operation: -This is one of the least risky way of system changeover as it only implements the new system by parts and if any thing goes wrong with the new system only the places or systems on which the new system was implemented are effected and the rest are not affected at all since the new system was not employed on all the systems. It is also less expensive than the full parallel operation as we only work on one part of the system at one given time and not the complete system.

I would recomend the Phased Operation as it involves the least cost and the least amount of risk which is the main point of focus.

This week as part of the weekly blog post i have to submit a annotated bibliography regarding assignment 2. The first reference that i found was

http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1046%2Fj.1365-2729.1997.00025.x

This article that i have found clearly relates to the innovation that i wrote for week 7 blog and is a part of my assignement. This article shows how question and answers are usefull for students in their cource studies. It also tells us why it is important to have question and answers in course websites.

http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1265270831&sid=2&Fmt=3&clientId=20863&RQT=309&VName=PQD

This article from proquest shows how even high profile security councils use online question and answers to get responses to thier queries.

 http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2006/12/04/nine-questions-and-answers-students-want-to-know-about-social-media-before-they-enter-the-workforce/

This article that i viewed tells how online question and answers are usefull for students for different blogs of life and how students can get help from these online question and answers.

The purpose of this week’s blog is to identify a potential innovation for our COIS20025 course website, which would help students and staff to improve the learning procedure as well as enhance the teaching strategies.

The one innovation that would help students and teachers in improving the learning and teaching strategies is: -

Students Question and Answers (Q&A)

The innovation that I thought would be helpful on the course website is really easy to use and implement.

This service should be introduced on the course website and the main purpose of this would be to give both the students and teachers of this course to have a common platform to share there thoughts and ideas.

It would really help students to bring forward the difficulties that they face while studying at home regarding the subject and all the questions or articles that they don’t understand directly on the course website and it would be answered by the student or staff who has the answer to the query.

The services that will be provided by this innovation on the course website include quick answers to the queries of the students and all references they want to share with other students. It would also provide a platform to the staff or the lecturers of the course to pass on instructions to the students regarding their course or regarding any news that they want to convey to the students of the course.

I identified this innovation after using a couple of fact finding techniques and completing some surveys within the university with regards to the all the course websites that are used by the students.

The most common requirements of almost all the students as they feel is necessary on the course website is a common page for the students and teachers were they can share there thoughts and ideas with other students and staff of the same course, this is because of the spamming of student emails by other students for simple or no reason.

So, the innovation that I thought would be helpful for our course website will be the Students Question and Answer (Q&A).

IF

Student Is In COIS20025 Course, and     

           IF has been asked for a weekly web blog,

               Then           Visit www.wordpress.com and sign up for a Unique username and password

                IF a student get registered, through the verification process,

Then goto the website and       Login with allotted username and password, And post the Blog and press Publish

              ELSE        

              IF                  have already registered, Then Login and write a post and publish  

This week as a part of my assignment I was given the responsibility of studying and reviewing the fact finding techniques being used for finding answers to different type of questions.The related questions for which I have to determine the fact finding techniques are.What services/additions would students find interesting and useful on the course website?What learning and/or teaching strategies might improve the student learning in this course? What journals might be useful to search for articles about educational innovations?

 Document Review

Document review is basically a fact finding technique in which it helps a user to identify the whole system. In document review there is a possibility that the documents can be eliminated. In that case user should always prepare the documents before implementing. Some of the common things which you have to keep in mind before implementation are:-1. One should record the information as obtained2. It should be as simple as possible3. Record the information so that every body can understand 4. The documents should be organized so that it can be sorted easily.

 Observation

Observation is one of the most important techniques. Seeing the system in a action gives you understanding and additional perspective. Personal understanding of the system gives a better idea and you can verify the statements made in the interviews and determine whether procedures really operate  as they are described in the document review.Personal observation gives you a better idea and the complete understanding of the whole system. Observation provides the knowledge to install and test the future changes.

Questionnaires and Surveys

Questionnaires are commonly known as surveys. Questionnaires help one get the information from a large gathering within a specific period of time. In questionnaires there are number of standard question that can be sent to many individuals to gather the required information.The questionnaires should:-+) be user friendly+) provide clear instructions+) be arranged in a logical order+) limit the use of questions+) not be related to the questions that are a threat to the job security+) include a section for the comments+) be tested on a small staff before the large gatherings.

Sampling

Sampling is the study of an information system where we need to collect samples of actual documents that may include records, reports, operational lots, work requests and various types of forms. There are three types of sampling techniques which are as follows:-1. Systematic sampling2. Stratified sampling3. Random sampling

Research:

One of the most important fact-finding technique is called research. There are various methods and techniques which one can include in research like one can use magazines, internet, journals, databases, seminars, meetings with IT professionals and other relevant sources. All this research work can help a professional in coming to a final decision which will be help in development of the required system. All these fact finding techniques will help a person in his field to make a relevant decision on the topic he wants  and it is with the help of these fact finding techniques a person recognize what are his areas of interest and improvement and what will help him achieve his goals.The fact finding techniques are always a good asset to a person as this helps the person in his day to day life to make crucial decision about his life when required and asked to do so.Nikhil Vohra…….     

 Q1.    What is the Capricornia Car Pool System? 

 Ans.   Capricornia car pool system is a Fleet management service provider which provides the Central QueenslandUniversity with hired cars that are provided to the people of the University mostly for Official Tours. The Car pool system had 30 cars across its campuses in Gladstone, Mackay and Rock Hampton for the Central Queensland University. The Car pool currently consists of two types of vehicles these are the sedans and the station wagons. They can be hired for a limited time period the maximum being 2 weeks and the minimum being 1 hour at any given time.

The best part about this service is that a person can book a car just by call the facilities management division or even by sending them an E-mail. The people who book a cab even knows in advance what they will be charged and apart from this they can also opt for extra services such as roof-rack or trailers just at an extra charge.

So a person can just book a cab from them and relax while he is traveling 

Q2 What are the current problems with the Capricornia Car Pool System?

Ans. 

The current problems with the Capricornia car pool system are as follows.

 First of all since every thing is done manually by the booking clerk there are high possibilities that when the data is copied from the log book of the driver to the log book of the management some writing errors might occur.

Secondly manual operations can slow down the booking process considerably as every thing is done on paper which takes a lot of time and often creates confusion and as all bookings are done on paper some are not finalized when a car can not be tracked for the lack of a tracking system installed in the cars. Also the papers containing the booking are sometimes misplaced by the booking clerk.

The maintenance of these cars is a big problem as it is a job of a single person to insure every car is properly serviced and is in a working condition. 

There is a clear communication gap between the management and the booking clerks as no information is provided to the management about how many cars are available and in working condition.

       Q3   What information do you need to find out about the Capricornia Car Pool   System to develop a detailed understanding of the current system?

         Ans

The information that we needed to collect for a detailed understanding of the Capricornia car pool system include the What does it do, Knowledge of how it works, Were does the problem arise, What actually is the main problem and the areas of improvement, What do we need to improve the services of the car pool system and the positives and the negatives of using the services of Fleet Management system and the steps needed to improve the service.

The car pool system allows a person of the university to easily book a cab from the fleet management people for there official purpose from the university without having to call a cab using other resources which can take more time. Since the service is provided by within the university it is more reliable than others.

The work of the car pool system involves a set of people some who make booking and some who provide cabs and confirm bookings but since they operate manually it is hard to keep track of the work they have to do.

There is no proper tracking system available with the car pool system people so that they can identify were the cabs are when making a booking and to figure out whether it the car needs a service or we need to replace the car altogether.

It is here where the problem arises sometimes there can be a communication gap between the booking clerk and the receptionist and the one who suffers because of this is the person who wanted to make a booking. The communication gap between the management and the fleet management people makes sure that the management does not know where the problem lies “Is it the number of cars or something else”.

The steps I think are needed for improvement include a need for a software that can take and save all information online so that the information can be tracked by the person who needs to make a booking or by the booking clerk who has to finalize the booking and by the management so that they can ask for increase in the fleet when needed. A proper tracking system should be installed in all the cars so that there movements are tracked when they are on a tour.