Research Project
For this project, a team of 4
students will research, document and present to the class one of the topics
below.
Project
consists of researching topic using the text (and its supporting CD and Web site),
Internet research (to get full marks you must go beyond the text) and any other
sources you choose (eg personal contacts) and presenting results to class.
Presentation must include a handout, a talk and some form of AVA (eg slides,
video, demos etc - you choose). Presentations are to be limited to 10 minutes,
with 5 minutes to follow for questions.
Remember
that I am very willing to help point you to research sources, make handout
copies etc. but you must start early for this to be possible. I can’t do much
to help at the last minute!
Grading of each team will be based mainly on
currency, clarity and relevance of material presented, but team work, quality
of documentation and quality of presentation will also be considered. Use the marking rubrics to help in preparation for you’re
a+!. The team grade will be assigned to individual students, modified if
necessary based on feedback from peer evaluation
(Note that peer evaluations must be submitted at the time of the presentation
to get full marks).
Project 1 – ‘The Great Divide’
Our
dependance on computers is increasing the gap between those who have computer
access and knowledge, and those who do not. Explain what a person needs in
order to be one of the ‘haves’ (eg a computer (and does it need to be
relatively new – why?), training (in what?, to what level?), internet access
(high speed? Uncensored?) etc.), and the consequences of being a ‘have not’.
Now, find statistics, as detailed as possible regarding ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’
in
Project 2 – ‘Thin Clients’
Explain
the concept and present the benefits and problems of implementing this idea.
Give some examples of vendors who sell this product, and end by giving your
forecast for the future – will this idea spread to offices? Homes? Or will it
die?
Project 3 – Wikipedia
Explain
the concept of Wikipedia (be specific – who enters info, how does it get
edited, checked for accuracy, updated etc.) and give stats on its use relative
to other similar print and web based info sources. Also, report on its
reliability relative to other sources (don’t give your opinion here, give proof
from formal studies or your own tests of a subject area in which you have
expertise). End by giving your opinion as to what the future of the ‘wiki’ idea
will be relative to the more traditional sources (info provided by experts who
have education and experience in both writing and the subject matter)
Project 4 – Red light cameras – good idea?
Research
an actual use of red light cameras to apprehend law-breakers and give the pros
and cons as experienced in the trial (we need actual stats – eg changes in accident
rate, of tickets issued, change in officer workload etc.) What ethical issues
does this raise (eg misuse of data collected, ticketing owner rather than
driver) and what has been the response of officials (eg via news releases) and the
public (eg via editorials). End by giving your opinion – are they a good idea?
Why or why not?
Project 5 – Data backup
Research
the data backup methods at an e-commerce site. Do they have backup copies
instantly available? If so, explain how is this done (mirroring, RAID etc), and
how often they have had to use the backup copies. How do they take backup for
offline storage (tape, SAN etc.), how often is this done, how long does it take
to restore, and how often have they had to use this? End by giving your opinion
– is the backup adequate? Why or why not?
Project 6 – Disaster Recovery
Find
an example of a computer system that failed dramatically, and describe the
disaster (could be fire, flood, hackers etc.). Then explain how the system
recovered. If it was a successful recovery, how did it work (where was the data
backed up, how did they restore it etc.). If it was not, why not, and what
should they have done differently?
Project 7 – Computer use for the Disabled
Report
on what computer-based adaptations for the disabled are available today. Cover
as many as you can find, covering as many disabilities as possible. Give a
brief description of how each works, and the costs involved. How successful is
each? (Include actual evaluations by disabled users where possibleWhich are
available at Algonquin? Which are not, and why?
Project 8 – Educational Software
The
need to learn how to use new software is rapidly increasing, as more people
need to learn software, and there is more software to learn. Start by giving
the pros and cons of learning to use new software with computer based learning
as opposed to a traditional ‘sage on the stage’ (lecture) approach. Then
compare the pros and cons of as many differnet computer based methods as you
can find (eg Help facility, SAM, etc.) Which do you prefer and why?
Project 9 – Open Source Software
Explain
the idea behind open source software, give a brief history, and explain the
pros and cons. Now assume we’d like to consider setting up an open source system
on a home PC – tell us what software you’d recommend for OS, standard office
applications (E-mail, Word processing, Spreadsheet, presentation tools etc.),
other software we might like (photo managers, games, etc.). What would be the
cost of the software you recommend vs the equivalent Windows tools. How would
it compare in ease of use? What training would we need and where could we get
it? End by giving your opinion – is this alternative worth serious
consideration for the home user?