OCR Nationals

Technological Innovation and E-Commerce

Unit 8

Welcome to Unit 8

Unit 8 is a homework unit that you are to complete at home and then print out in school.

The deadline for this unit is 1st March 2013.

How to complete this assignment

In Unit 8 we are going to investigate how information technology has changed people’s lives.

You will need to do your own research to be able to answer the questions.

You will find website links for section ao5 on last few slides.

This assignment must be completed on a word document in a report format.

You must spellcheck your report.

Our age is one defined by technology. Never before in human history have we had access to so many ways of communicating.

The internet has given people access to information on a scale that would have been unimaginable only fifteen years ago. But how do you know it’s true? You can buy almost anything on the internet but that doesn’t just mean CDs. How about babies? Guns? People’s credit card details?

This new technology exposes us to all sorts of dangers and it has opened up a minefield of new moral dilemmas.

I hope that by completing this unit you will gain a thorough understanding of technological innovation and e-commerce.

Introduction

At the end of this unit you will be able to…

• Identify the effects of ICT on the individual

• Describe an innovation in ICT

• Investigate how e-commerce has affected the way people buy goods and services

• Investigate one e-commerce website, and

• Understand legal and moral issues in the digital age

Task 1 – on-going bibliography

• Keep an on-going bibliography of all sources that you use whilst completing this unit.

• See “Howtoreferencesources.doc”

Task 2-Identify the effects of ICT on the individual

You need to complete 6 reports. For each of the categories 1-6 below,choose a subcategory in blue to base your report on-Eg. Internet (main category)email(sub category):

1.Internet -email, WWW, messenger, chat rooms 2.Communication- mobile phone, video phone, video conferencing, information points3.Entertainment - games console, MP3 player, digital TV4.Mobile access- laptop, PDA, wi-fi, WAP5.Data capture- digital camera, voice recorder, scanner6. Financial transactions- ATM, EPOS, smart card

You need to do 6 separate reports using following structure:•How this technology is used by individuals•Benefits eg: speed, ease of use•Disadvantages eg: cost, theft, limitations of the chosen technology

Task 3 - Describe an innovation in ICT

You must write a report about one innovation in ICT, for example:– Bluetooth,– TV on demand,– GPS systems,– Mobile phone technologies.

You must describe in detail:• its purpose• the extent to which it achieves its purpose• how it works • benefits and limitations

The innovation MUST be relatively new. An investigation into the introduction of IT into offices is not an acceptable topic of study. Nor is gaming technology!

Innovation: The introduction of new ideas, goods, services, and practices which are intended to be useful.

Task 4 - (part a)Investigate how e-commerce has changed the way

people buy goods and services.

• Give a detailed definition of e-commerce using examples of a range of different types of e-commerce website.

Task 4 - (part b)(b) Explain how e-commerce has changed the

way you buy goods and services. You must discuss in detail the following way it effects you in terms of:– choice – location – convenience – cost– Flexibility

You must give an example to illustrate each of the above five points.

Task 5 - Investigate an ecommerce website

Examples of these are: Auction sites e.g. EBay Digital download site e.g. itunes.com booking system commercial website selling products e.g.

amazon.co.uk, play.com

Task 5 cont.

You must: Identify the audience and purpose of the ecommerce

website. This means say who it is meant for and what the site is for e.g. to sell CDs, DVDs and games.

Describe the extent to which the site meets its aim, giving examples.

You need to provide annotated screenshots of its e-commerce features. This means things like search facilities, shopping baskets, encryption (with specific reference to HTTPS)and user accounts.

Describe and illustrate the services provided eg buying/selling products. You will need to use annotated screenshots to show you understand what these are.

Task 6 – Understand legal and moral issues in the digital age

Explain the main requirements of legislation relating to data protection, copyright and computer misuse. You must give reasons for the requirements. •Computer Misuse Act•Data Protection Act•Copyright Designs and Patents ActYou must research the above and provide recent examples of the law in action

This must be done on a word document

Computer Misuse Act

Research the above law.http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/ict/

legal/1dataandcomputermisuserev2.shtml

Do not copy and paste from web sites You are to write up in your own words what this

law is aboutGary Mackinnon is a good example to use of

someone who broke this lawhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_McKinnon

Data Protection Act

Research the above law.

Do not copy and paste from web sites You are to write up in your own words what this law is about

Click the link below to find out more http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/ict/legal/

0dataprotectionactrev1.shtml

Click the below link to provide detail of example to relate to in report:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/mobile-phones/6591726/T-Mobile-customers-hit-by-data-sale-scandal.html

Copyright Designs and Patents Act

Click the below link to locate info about this law

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/ict/legal/2copyrightrev1.shtml

Task 7 - Moral issues associated with computer usage

You must describe at least two different moral issues related to the use of digital technology, explaining why they have occurred and discussing opposing opinions.1.Downloading music without paying for it …(pirate bay etc)2.Computer hacking is morally wrong because…….(Gary Mackinnon)3.Not keeping personal and sensitive data secure is morally wrong because….(T Mobile Data Protection issue)4. civil liberties, eg:

o surveillanceo data collectiono ID cardso airport security

5. access to information6. employmentYou must use a range of examples to illustrate the issues. You must give accurate descriptions