Extra Credit: Avatar

I used the website DoppelMe to create my avatar. I thought it was a lot of fun designing the avatar and playing with all of the different options. I was able to select a skin color, eye color, facial expression, hair style, hair color, clothing top and bottom. Other options I did not choose to use were glasses and hats. I thought it was cool to play around with the different options and see how interesting you could make the avatar look. I think it is great that the website let me create the avatar for free, there were also more options for clothing and accessories if you had an account with the website.

Week 11: Clear/Information Systems

This week in class we learned about information systems and the system development cycle. I found the topic very easy to understand after we went through the entire cycle:

• Planning- where project requests are reviewed and then approved
• Analysis- completing a preliminary analysis where technology, objective, schedule, and cost are looked at and then a detailed analysis is completed where solutions are developed
• Design- figure out how to create the system, obtain the hardware necessary and sign off on the final plans
• Implementation- develop, install, and test the new program and train everyone to use it before converting
• Operation, Support and Security- look at the maintenance, performance, and security

I believe knowing about information systems is very important in the business world no matter what company you work for because you could be the one creating the system or the one learning the new system because your company is converting. This is very common in the real world and an article I found that dealt with this topic in the real world can be found here.

Database Project

The Database project taught me a lot about Microsoft Access. Watching the lectures from last week explained to me how to complete tasks, but actually using Microsoft Access through the project really familiarized me with the database. Importing the members document into the table that I had already started was the hardest part of the project for me. When I was finally able to figure it out, creating the query, form, and report were fairly easy. I also learned how helpful Microsoft Access could be for a real company. Using the database for the "local gym" allowed me to look at how an actual business would find it helpful and how they could use the database to benefit their company.

To improve the functionality of the members database I would add a few more fields including: e-mail address, picture, and last visit. The e-mail address would provide an easier way of contacting the members and updating them if anything was going on at the gym that they should know about. The picture would be helpful to employees to remember a customer's face and ensure the person using the membership is the member, not a friend or someone pretending to be them. Last visit would be a way for the gym to keep a count of how many people come each day, how often certain people come, etc. This would be helpful also for employees to familiarize themselves with the members that use the gym frequently.

Overall, I think Microsoft Access is a very user friendly database and is very helpful for real world companies.

Week 10: Muddy/ Microsoft Access

Before watching the lectures and completing the Access Scavenger Hunt this week, I was not familiar with Microsoft Access.  I have never had to use it for a class or project so everything was new to me. Database Management Systems seem so logical to me now but I had not put thought into how companies organize all of the data they deal with. I am now pleased to say that I have learned to create tables, import/export data, learn about queries and pretty much discover most of the tools used in Microsoft Access. 

The most difficult concept for me to grasp was working with external data in Microsoft Access. All of the options of what to do with the data made it seem a lot more complicated to me until I really focused on what was going on in the lectures. Once I realized what the teacher was doing with the data and that a delimiter separates data and a text qualifier shows access that the information is text, filling out the scavenger hunt made a lot more sense. Whenever I had trouble with the assignment I visited the Microsoft Access website to help me out. I am hoping that I will become more familiar with these tools when I complete the Database Project because I do think database management systems are very important to companies for organization and research purposes, like customer preferences.

Week 9: Clear/How to Use the Internet

This week in class we learned how to navigate the web and how to use it. This is a topic I feel very comfortable with because I use the web so often in my every day life. I use it for my own interest, school, work and research with news portals, social networks, etc. I pretty much turn to it for anything I need, as do many people around the world. I believe the four step process to view a website we reviewed in class was the most interesting part of the lectures this week. I am amazed at how fast computers work now and are able to access the internet in a heartbeat. Another topic we focused on was the parts of a web address: 

• protocol
• domain name
• TLD
• path
• file name.

I believe this was an important topic because the internet is so prevalent in our everyday lives, especially in the business world today. Knowing how it works could benefit us in the long run and give us a step up on the competition. To learn more about the history of the internet click here.

Presentations Project

Web 2.0 Presentation

By critiquing a peer's presentation, I was able to reflect on my own and decide what parts I thought I completed very well and what aspects of it I could have done better on. I believe the sequence of my presentation flowed nicely and that I anticipated questions but I think I should have done something more exciting in the beginning to grab the attention of the audience. The microphone on my computer is very limited and you cannot hear me very clearly so next time I would use a different computer to record. I think I did a really good job of explaining Dance Marathon at UF and what it raises money for as well as validating my statements. I did avoid clutter, but next time I think it may be better to use less text and just leave the majority of the explanations to the actual presentation even though I did say it and then show it, not just read off the slides.

I learned a lot about presentations through this project that I think will be very helpful in the real world. Employees have to make presentations a lot in the corporate world so learning about how to put together a professional one is very important. I learned how to add recordings, post power points online and how to give an effective presentation.

Week 7: Clear/Effective Presentations

Effective presentations are extremely important in the business world. Numerous jobs require you to create presentations in order to sell a product or an idea to a company. Learning how to make these presentations is important and helpful for future employment and could give you a head start above a competitor. The most important thing to think about when creating a presentation is your audience. The point of the presentation is to get something across to the audience and engage them. Make sure that in any presentation you focus on clarity and do not bore the audience.

The easiest and most efficient way to create an effective presentation is to first create a storyboard. A storyboard is a plan for what you will present. It includes all of the basic elements you need in the presentation and helps you to sell ideas and communicate aspects of your ideas clearly. The flow of a presentation is also extremely important, presenters need to make sure it is logical and their is a specific sequence. Effective presentations should start with a dramatic opening to grab the attention of the audience. When creating a presentation it is important to anticipate the types of questions the audience will ask. It is better to answer the questions before the audience asks rather than having them raise their hands at the end. An extremely helpful powerpoint about presentations can be found here.


Photograph found here.