2023 Written Assessment 30 General Information The purpose of this assignment is to select and discuss | Assignments Online

Written Assessment (30%)

General Information

The purpose of this assignment is to select and discuss relevant online resources that exemplify the application of the topic(s) nominated each week (1 – 10). This assignment can (and should!) be completed progressively (i.e. each week).   There are ten (10) tasks, one for each week:  these are detailed below and in the template.

The assignment is marked out of 30 and forms 30% of your total course marks.

Note that late penalties apply (5% of the total available marks per calendar day late or part thereof).  Assignments received 14 days or more after the due date will not be marked and will receive zero. Students may apply for extensions but must provide documentary evidence to support their request (for example, a medical certificate).  Short extensions of one to two days will be considered as long as students include their nearly completed assignment (i.e. one or two tasks to yet be completed) in their extension request.

It will be necessary for students to use literature/online resources to complete this assignment, so please ensure you cite and reference any such materials using the Harvard format.  Plagiarism detection will be used in this assessment.

It is VERY important that you do not copy content directly from either the text or Internet resources:  this assignment is to be in your own words.  You will lose marks if you do not use your own words!  Actual plagiarism will result in the instigation of the student misconduct process.

What do I need to do? 

Download the template.  There are ten (10) tasks, one for each week:  the tasks are detailed below (and also in the template file). 

Each task requires you to collect and summarise two (2) online resources.  Each resource summary should be a maximum of 150 words.  You should collect interesting and relevant resources that address the task.   These can include online blog posts, trade and academic articles.  The resources should be substantial and contain information directly pertinent to the task.  The textbook and sites such as Wikipedia and HowStuffWorks are not suitable resources.

For each task, there is a table to complete in the template.  Please fill in the information required and submit the document via this page by the due date.

Week	Task
1	One aspect of this week was mass storage. Collect and summarise two resources concerning data storage technology and/or trends that are not mentioned in the text.
2	When we think about operating systems, we traditionally focus on the systems that run out servers and desktops (like Windows, Linux and OS X).  In recent years, the emergence of tablets and smart phones has led to advances in the operating systems that run these devices.  Collect and summarise two resources concerning these mobile operating systems.
3	Access to the Internet has arguably become an essential service, however the quality of the service varies widely in Australia.  Multiple governments had promised (and begun to deliver) a way of delivering high-speed connectivity throughout Australia via the NBN.  Collect and summarise two resources that discuss the technologies that will underpin this network.
4	IPv6 is set to eventually replace IPv4. Collect and summarise two resources that discuss how IPv6 improves on IPv4.
5	The media frequently reports on cyber-attacks on government and corporate websites.  Collect and summarise two resources that discuss examples of instances of such attacks.
6	In order to implement QoS, there are a number of supporting protocols.  Collect and summarise two resources that discuss these protocols.
7	Enterprise System (ES) technology underpins the business operations of most modern organisations. Collect and summarise two resources that discuss the use of these information systems.
8	The text discusses DBMS software.  Collect and summarise two resources that describe specific DBMS software (commercial or open source) and their use in industry.
9	Testing is a critical aspect of building Information Systems.  Collect and summarise two resources that discuss different testing techniques or methods.
10	Numerous software implementation projects fail and are reported in the media.  Collect and summarise two resources that provide examples of such failures.

 

Hints

Hint 1:  Do a bit every week

This assignment is not onerous, especially if you complete each weekly section as you complete each week of the course – that means writing less than 300 words per week.  However, it will be much harder if you try to complete all ten sections in week eleven!

Hint 2:  Choose interesting and relevant resources

You will be assessed on the relevance of resources.  Choose specialised, specific resources that helped you gain a deeper understanding of the topic area.  Do not use generic web pages from sites like Wikipedia and “How-Stuff-Works” 

Hint 3:  Look at this example

An example of a completed task is below.  Note the first response (resource 1) is good – so aim for something like this.  The second response (resource 2) is not acceptable, so if you submit anything like it, you won’t pass the assignment!  The reasons?  Poor resource selection (Wikipedia), no Harvard reference and a block cut and paste from the site (no citation, no original content).

 

Example
Task	Find two resources that explain aspects of IT Service Management.
Resource 1 (Good Response)	Title and Reference: COBIT versus ITIL   IBARAKI, S. 2014. COBIT versus ITIL [Online]. Available: http://blogs.technet.com/b/cdnitmanagers/archive/2014/04/06/cobit-versus-itil.aspx [Accessed 29/01/2015 2014].
	Summary: This resource is a blog entry discussing the differences between CoBIT and ITIL.  I chose this resource as there is a lot of confusion about the way in which ITSM is applied and the distinction between the CoBIT and ITIL implementations is frequently unclear.  Ibaraki explains that CoBIT provides the governance and metric structures while ITIL delivers on the actual mechanics and “how-to” processes.  The author makes an interesting observation that it is wrong to simplify COBIT as providing the ‘why’ and ITIL providing the ‘how’ because both ITSM mechanisms have considerable overlap and both need to be used at the same time.  I found this article very useful in explaining the differences and similarities between these two aspects of ITSM.
Resource 2 (Bad Response)	Title and Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IT_service_management
	Summary: This pages talks about ITSM.  It says that IT service management (ITSM) refers to the entirety of activities – directed by policies, organized and structured in processes and supporting procedures – that are performed by an organization or part of an organization to plan, deliver, operate and control IT services offered to customers. It is thus concerned with the implementation of quality IT services that meet the needs of customers, and is performed by the IT service provider through an appropriate mix of people, process and information technology.

Hint 4:  Ask!

If something in this assignment description is unclear, or you are just not 100% sure about something, please ask for help.  Your teaching team really do not mind if you ask us to clarify something.  We do mind when we have to fail you because you haven’t submitted what was asked or met the assignment requirements sad 

What do I need to submit?

You are required to submit a single document in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx). Use the template as the basis for your submission.  Apart from providing your response to the weekly tasks, do not modify the document – especially do not delete the marking sheet.

Marking Criteria

 A detailed tabular marking criteria is provided as part of your submission template – please ensure you read it before attempting the assignment.  You will be assessed on the relevance of the resources you select as well as the clarity and detail of your discussions.