ISM3004 Computing Portfolio Project, 2008 for Stephanie Batz


Introduction






I am a 21-year-old student at the University of Florida in Gainesville. I am originally from Port Orange, Florida so I love soaking up the sun. As you can see, I also love my cat Muffy, my family, God, and living life to the fullest. I am a Health Science student with a focus on Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation. I also teach Pilates, so I hope to incorporate those techniques into my therapeutic work. After I graduate, I plan to attend graduate school and earn a doctorate degree in Physical Therapy.

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Part 1 - Web Page

Why do you think a Web presence is an "essential" for businesses of all sizes?

A Web presence is essential to businesses because it portrays professionalism, aids in increased popularity and sales, and allows for improved customer support. A Web presence should not simply be a website that presents a business’s brochure, but it should represent an image and sometimes a first impression through interactive links.

The website must be easy to find, access, and use in order for customers to be satisfied and sense a professional image from it. Due to the rapid rise in internet use, it is almost expected for a business to have a website. If they do not, it can be perceived as less legitimate, successful, and current with times. So its accessibility is crucial. Also, the website’s appearance must be professional looking: clean, organized, and focused on the purpose.

Many people these days search for businesses and services online. So it would be a downfall for a business not to have a website. More business would be directed to their competitors rather than towards their own business. So having a website will allow for an increase in sales. Making purchases in the store or over the phone requires that you do so during hours, whereas making them online permits unlimited hours. It also makes it easier for customers to make purchases because they do not have to travel to the store, therefore allowing customers from out-of-state to shop as well. In a world that stresses time as precious, the quicker the better.

Customer support is improved over the internet because postings, messages, and Frequently Asked Questions sections are available. This saves money by lowering the number of employees to pay for customer service phone calls. Good websites also provide quick access to directions, phone numbers, fax numbers, and emails usually. Therefore, customers are supplied with more information, making it more likely for them to feel satisfied and trust a business.



Part 2- Podcast

My thoughts on the use of Podcasting in a Business Environment

There are pros and cons to podcasting in the business environment. The obvious pros include advertising for businesses. So if someone downloads their podcasts, they are already interested and are more likely to be accepting of an advertisement or information. Due to podcast subscriptions, this could also increase customer loyalty due to frequent visits. People may visit a podcast more often than they visit a business’s website. So this choice that customers have of not only a website but also podcasts may be appreciated by some people. It is an excellent way to provide current news and important information.

Another pro is that podcasting increases online visibility and accessibility. Podcasts can be available on iTunes, which reaches millions of people worldwide. A simple search, just like google, could pop up with results of their podcast and draw in a new customer that would have never known about them. Therefore, this visibility can boost business sales. Lastly, podcasting provides more convenience. And in a world so wrapped up in time, listening to news may be more convenient than reading it. Since it is audio, the consumer can play the podcast while doing other tasks at their computer. They could also download it to their mp3 players and play it in the car, gym, or office. I feel that the more options customers have, the more probable it is that they will be taken.

On the other hand, the cons to this include the possibility of a low rate of podcast downloads. Yes, music downloads are growing increasingly popular, but will podcasts follow this same trend? Many people don’t want to listen to news, they would rather read. Because, to be honest, I would fall asleep if I had to listen to a podcast that was boring and generally sounded like an advertisement on the radio station. But everyone has their own preferences. Overall, I believe that it would be beneficial for a business to have podcasts. It definitely would not hurt their business. So why not try something new! I enjoyed being introduced to podcasts and look forward to seeing if they succeed in the business world.

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Part 3 - Secure E-mail

The Use of Secure Email in the Business Environment

Since email is used more often than mailing letters these days, it is becoming increasingly crucial for businesses and even the average computer-user to secure their email. So the person sending an email can be assured that only the person they are sending it to will be able to read it. This is necessary, especially with private information, because email is insecure. An administrator on any end of the systems between sender and recipient can look at any emails that cross their server. It is not common for this to happen, but possible. This small possibility should be a red flag to businesses of all kinds who communicate through emails frequently. Important and confidential information like finances, company decisions, and client records need to be secured in order to avoid future problems like identity theft.

As we learned in lecture, securing email can be done in two ways. The first way is through an email certificate which is like a signature. A certificate can be attached to your email and it identifies you to the recipient. The second way is through encryption. It uses a public key to encrypt a message and then after it is sent, the recipient can only read it if they have the private key. Therefore, this public key can be shared among friends, classmates, and coworkers. However, the private key should be kept secret and shared with no one.

This project introduced me to secure emails for the first time. I never knew that this was possible, so I am very appreciative to have learned about it since it will be useful in my future. I want to be a physical therapist which means I must adhere to confidentiality laws administered through Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This informs health care professionals of the risks while using written and typed client information. Their personal, family, medical, legal, financial, and social background must be kept confidential. And since we usually work as health care teams, communication of this information needs to be shared. For example, a patient’s case manager must present their information to the physical therapist, occupational therapist, vocational therapist, psychologist, etc. I believe that this is a very important lesson and is crucial for even common computer users to learn.



Part 4 - Collaborative Computing

The Use of Collaborative Computing in the Business Environment

It is generally perceived that face-to-face business meetings achieve more, but they are less practical. With Internet use for businesses growing rapidly, long-distance communication is crucial and more convenient. Since many successful businesses work together as a group to make decisions that are more responsive to clients, collaborative computing allows this teamwork to be done on the computer. Collaborative computing describes interaction between people using computers who are able to share, modify, and create data together. Collaborative computing is not only limited to big businesses though. Small businesses, researchers, groups, and even students can find it useful and effective.

It is an effective tool because it allows many different tasks. First, members can create as many discussions as they need and interact with each other by the minute. It is even an option to have emails sent to you each time something new is posted. Collaborative computing also allows files to be shared and photos to be posted so that others can see them and edit them. Another valuable tool is surveys. Members can create a survey question and receive feedback to help make group decisions easier. Lastly, it allows for tasks to be listed.

Throughout my experiences with SharePoint, I was surprised at how easy the program was to use! Everything was straight forward. I appreciated the email alerts the most because it allowed me to see when something new was added so that I would not have to check the site every hour. The survey section was also very valuable to our team. We had some great discussions about choosing which sport and year, but they came to no conclusion until the surveys were conducted. Overall, I enjoyed this teamwork project and was pleased with my team’s collaboration and final advertisement.

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Part 5 - Excel 2003/2007 Skills

Skills I Learned and How I Will Use Them

I learned a lot from this project because I have never used Excel for more than storing statistical data. It was fun and interesting to learn how to analyze and calculate data. I had no idea Excel had those advanced capabilities. The first task I learned how to use was functions. This proved to be a huge time saver for copying and separating data, especially since our data included rows upon rows of information. It would have taken much longer to fill out the new columns by hand.

The second task I learned how to do was make a pivot table. This summarized the video data by state/region and organized the sales data by month. I especially liked learning that it could be autoformatted and color coded in order to make it easier to read. Because before this, it looked too clustered. This made it easier to see the averages of the number of new release rentals, number of prior year release rentals, and the number of classic rentals.

The third task I learned was how to goal seek. This allowed me to tell the computer to change one variable of data in order to reach a new numerical goal. This is probably the task that I can use in my future career. No matter which area of healthcare I go into, numbers of patients and costs will be involved. So this Goal Seeking function makes it a lot easier to determine changes that need to be made in a business. It saves time because I do not have to formulate an algebraic equation and do each problem by hand. Overall, this was a valuable lesson and a tool that I will use in my future. It is a time efficient tool that can be valuable to anyone in school or work.

































Part 6 - Database

Microsoft Access Skills

This was the first time I had ever used Microsoft Access. To be honest, it was extremely challenging and frustrating. Even after watching the lectures, reading the directions for this project, posting questions on the discussion board, and going to see Craig for help, I felt lost. I understand how it is helpful to businesses and makes certain tasks much easier and quicker to complete. However, I do not think I will ever use this throughout my future career.

Looking at this program from the viewpoint of a business woman, it would be very beneficial! It allows quick tracking of data with ease. It provides prebuilt applications that can be edited according to a business’s needs. Data can be imported or exported into tables in order to create organization. Queries can be made in order to link tables together. And reports can be created in order to make the data more presentable for decision-making. Another great feature is all the tables and reports for one project are saved in one document together. Therefore, multiple reports with different views of the same information can be produced.

I am sure that a business or computer savvy person would be able to use Microsoft Access with more ease than I did. It is a magnificent program which automatically updates information between tables and makes data relationships easier. For this project, we analyzed movie outlets and videos available there. In the lecture example, students and their grades were analyzed. This shows the wide variety of use for Microsoft Access. Therefore, I am certain this is a popular program in not only the business world, but many others as well.