A. Application Evolutions:
A.1 Artificial Intelligence
A.2 Network Communications and WWW
A.3 Brief History of Computer Network
A.4 E-Commerce
A.5 Web Services
A.1 Artificial Intelligence
1. Game Playing: Early work
Common Board Games, well defined.
Hugh state space required heuristic search techniques.
Inexact/incomplete information.
Difficulty in designing a good evaluation function to guide search.
2. Automated Reasoning/Theorem Proving: Early work
Predicate Calculus and Resolution procedure
Contributions to Formalizing search algorithms and developing
formal representation languages like PROLOG.
3. Expert Systems
Importance of domain-specific knowledge and
problem solving techniques.
Knowledge Engineering:
Effective representation of expert knowledge
Inference Engine: Control strategy implementation.
Successful examples:
DENDRAL (Organic molecule structure analysis)
MYCIN (Bacterial infection diagnosis and treatment)
PROSPECTOR (Ore deposit location finder)
Some deficiencies:
a. Lack of deep knowledge of problem domain.
b. Lack of robustness and flexibility
Inability to deal with unanticipated problem instances.
c. Inability to provide deep explanations.
d. Little learning from experiences.
Structure of typical Expert System:
1. Knowledge Base (Rule-based Production System)
contains general knowledge about a certain domain like chemistry
or internal medicine
2. Inference Engine: Brain of the system
contains the problem solving knowledge and control strategies
for choosing more promising alternatives.
3. Working Memory
contains information about s particular problem being
considered and its contents change dynamically during the execution
of the system.
4. Explanation subsystem
keeps track of all rules being applied to be used as the basis
for the final conclusion/action to be explained later upon request..
4. Natural Language Understanding
a. Understanding and generating human languages.
b. Representation of background knowledge on domain of discourse.
c. Difficulties in resolving the omissions and ambiguities
inherent in human expressions.
Example:
Winograd's SHRDLU: Blocks World
5. Planning and Robotics
a. Planning originally was finding a sequence of actions for
robots.
b. Ability to respond to changing environmental conditions
and to cope with incomplete information.
c. New areas of planning include Coordination of complex set
of tasks and goals.
6. Machine learning
a. Most E.S. lacks learning capability, solving the same
problem instance the same way a second time or a third time.
b. Learning from experience, analogy or examples.
c. Successes of machine learning programs suggest the existence
of a set of general learning principles.
A.2. Network Communications and WWW.
a. WWW invented in 1990 by Tim Berners Lee of CERN
(European Laboratory for Particle Physics) for distributed
information exchange system.
b. Web pages have become a worldwide standard due to
standardization of TCP/IP and adoption of HTML.
TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)
Data transmission stardards for all different computers
to be able to communicate.
IP (Internet Protocol)
Standard for specifying addresses of host computers
to correctly deliver E-messages to proper destinations
as well as correctly identifying senders.
HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language)
Standard language to write WWW documents that all
browsers understand.
c. Web Browsers
Netscape and Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Software to mediate between client computers and
server computers in displaying WWW documents (web pages).
A.3 Brief History of Computer Network
1. ARPANET in 1969, Cold war era.
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DOD)
Initial goal:
Experimental computer network to support research.
In particular, research about how to build computer network that can
withstand partial outages (like bomb attacks) and still function.
It soon adopted the IP Protocol.
2. Other networks adopted IP protocol and joined ARPANET soon including
five supercomputer centers, NSFNEt, CSNET and THEnet (Texas Higher Education)
3. In 1990 it became InterNet (A network of networks)
a. Packet switching, no dedicated channels for particular
transmission like telephone switching system.
A packet: a piece of message of about 1500 characters
b. IP addressing system
Each host computer has a unique address made up of
four numbers, each up to 256, (2**8 )
Possible number of addresses: roughly 4,000,000,000
c. DNS (Domain Name System)
To use names instead of numbers for IP addresses.
This allows an IP address to be specified by a series of
domain names such as
HAL.LAMAR.EDU
where 'EDU' is the highest domain name.
Originally, there were six highest domain names:
COM
EDU
GOV
MIL (military establishments)
ORG (Non-profit organization)
NET (network resources)
4. Some issues of Internet/WWW
Security
Confidentiality:
Access only by authorized parties (or the protection of data from disclosure)
In particular, the intended receiver must receive the message transmitted.
Authentication:
Assurance that the communicating entity is the one it claims to be.
Integrity:
Assurance that data received are exactly as sent by an authorized entity
(or Modification only by authorized parties)
Nonrepudiation:
Provides protection against denial by one of the entities involved involved
in a communication of having participated in all or part of the communication.
Criminal Activities
Appropriate Net Behavior
Lack of Central Control, No Government Control
A.4. E-Commerce
Although the term is fairly new, large corporations have been
conducting e-commerce for decades, by networking systems together with
those of business partners and clients.
Banking industry uses EFT to transfer money between accounts.
Many companies also use EDI(Electronic Data Interchange), in which
business forms such as purchase orders and invoices are standardized
so that companies can share information with customers, vendors and
business partners electronically.
Until recently, e-commerce was feasible only for large companies.
The Internet and the World Wide Web make it possible for even small
businesses to compete with large companies.
E-coomerce allows companies to conduct business 24 hours
a day, seven days a week, worldwide.
Internet is an inherently insecure medium comprised of vast networks and millions of
computers. It is important to secure the network transactions, to protect
such pprivate information as credit card numbers transferred between merchants
and clients.
Some successful models
1. Shopping-Cart Technology: Most successful model
This order-processing technology allows customers to accumulate and store lists of items
they wish to purchase as they continue to shop. Supporting the shopping
cart is the product catalog, which is hosted on the merchant server in the form
of database.
WWW.Amazon.Com
The online caalog allows you to navigate quickly among millions of product
offerings. It uses a sophisticated database on the server side that allows
on the client side to search for misslions of products in a variety of ways.
Buying a product at Amazon is simple. You begin at the Amazon.Com home page
and decide the type of product you would like to purchase. For example
if you are looking for a book, you can find the book by using the Search Box
in the top-left corner of the home page. Selct the Books in the Search Box, then type
the title of the book into the window. This takes directly to the product
page for the book. To purchase the item, selct "Add to Shopping Cart" on the
right corner of the page. The shoppingcart technology processes the information
and displays a list of items you have placed in the shopping cart. You then
have the option of changing the quantity of each item, remove an item,
check out, or continue shopping.
Customers returning to Amazon can use its 1-click system. This allows the customer to reuse
previously entered payment and shipping information to place an order with just one
click of the mouse. This is an excellent example of how intelligently designed
database application can make online business transactions faster and easier.
Amazon operates on a secure server that protects your personal information.
If you feel uncomfortable using your credit card on the Web, you can place your order through their
Web site using the last five digits of your credit card, then you can call
Amazon's Customer Service Department to provide the remaining numbers to
complete your order.
!966, Amazon innovated a unique e-commerce marketing strategy to bring new
customers to their Web site. Companies and individuals can create an income stream
in exchange for posting Amazon links on their Web sites, thus sending their
visitors to Amazon. This is known as Amazon.Com Associate Program.
2. Online-Auction: eBay case: WWW.EBAY.COM
Created in 1995, eBay reportedly posts about 2 million unique auctions
and 250,000 new items each day.
The impact of eBay on e-business has been profound. the founders took a business
model that was restrictive offline and brought it to the desktops of consumers
worldwide. The business model is one of few that generates profit on the WWW. The bidding and
close interactions between buyers and sellers promotes a sense of community
-a near addition that keeps them coming back.
On eBay, people can buy and sell just about anything.
The company collects a submission fee plus a percentage of the sale amount.
The final fee is multitiered.
for example, your product sells for $1500, then you would have a three-tiered
final fee as follow:
5% on the first $25
2.5% on up to $1000 of the remaining selling price
1.25% on the rest of the selling price.
So, the selling price of $1500 would incur $31.88 in fees
The submission fee is based on the amount of exposure you want your item
to receive. For example, if you would like to be among the "Featured Auctions"
in your specific product catagory, you can pay $14.95 for the auction period.
And, for $99.95, your item will be listed on the eBay home page under "Featured Items.
eBay uses a database to manage the millions of auctions that it offers.
The database evolves dynamically as sellers and buyers enter personal identification and product
information. When a seller enters a product to be auctioned, the seller provides a description of the
product, keywords, initial price, date and persnal information.
This data is used to produce the product listings that the buyers see.
eBay has spawned a number of new businesses that use the site as their means of
selling products. These businesses depend on eBay to remain up and running
continuously. To avoid down time, companies make investments in
"High-availability computing" and "Continuous-availability computing"
High-availability computing attempts to minimize down time.
Continuous-availability computing attempts to eliminate it completely.
One key to such technologies is "fault-tolerant systems" that use Rerundancy.
For example, every crucial piece of hardware such as the processor, the disk
and the communications channel has one or more levels of backup, so, in a failure,
the system shifts from a failed component to a backup component.
The same is true of data. Companies cannot afford to lose their business data,
so the data too are maintained redundantly.
There are several other online auction sites such as:
auctions.yahoo.com
www.fairmarket.com
3. Online Trading: WWW.Etrade.Com, www.fidelity.Com
One of the leaders in online trading is E*TRADE.
The company was founded in 1982 to offer online stock quotes to the nation's
major investment firms.
With the development of the Web, ETrade created a web site where individual investors
could manage their own investments without the need for brokers.
Online trading is fast and cheap. Online trading companies like Etrade and
Fidelity Investments have made investing in stocks and options accessible to a
larger audience.
At Etrade, you can buy and sell and research stocks, bonds and other securities.
If you have little knowledge about buying and selling stocks, Etrade offers
two games in which you use fake game money to carry out stock trades and option trades.
The Etrade games are a friendly way for beginners to experiment with online trading.
Players compete for real cash prozes. The two players with the highest-valued
portfolios at the end of each trading game receive $1000 each.
The trading games last one month. To play teh ETrade games and to learn more about
online trading, visit ://WWW.Etrade.Com.
4. Other E-Businesses
E-commerce is forcing traditional offline companies to transform into e-businesses
or else thhey risk losing market share to competitors, including fast-moving
Internet start-ups.
One of the best e-business success is Dell Computer Corporation.
Dell took their thriving offline business and it into an e-business phenomenon, generating more
than $30 million in sales through their Web site each day.
Founded in 1984 as a mail-order catalog business, Dell's business model was to sell made-to-order computers
directly to the customers. Their Web site is logically organized by
customer category and easy to use. WWW.dell.Com
Approximately two thirds of Dell's online sales are business-to-business transactions.
Business-to-business e-commerce is growing exponentially. By one estimate,
business-tp-business transactions could reach $1 trillion by 2004.
Manufacturers, service companies and wholesalers that sell their products to other businesses
are finding tremendous success online. Established companies that delay
shifting to e-commerce risk losing market share to fast-moving Internet start-up
companies.
E-commerce is also creating opportunities for many new types of businesses.
People are turning their hobbies into profitable businesses on the Web.
There are companies such as "Ebates.Com" that does not have a product.
It is simply an affiliate of many online retailers.
The company works as follows:
1. "Ebates.Com" signs up with online merchants to be an affiliate
2. Earns a referal fees each time a customer clicks from "Ebates.Com"
to the merchant's site and makes a purchase.
3. Customers sign up to become members.
Each customer is given an Ebates.Com e-mail address that they must use
for purchases.
4. Each a customer makes a purchase after being referred to by "Ebates.com",
the affiliated merchant sends back an email confirming the amount of the
purchase to the customer's Ebates.Com address.
5. Ebates.Com uses the purchase information to update the customer's account
with the amoung of rebates owed.
6. The company passes the referral fees it earns from its affiliates on to the
individual customers.
A.5 Web Services: Unlocking databases to achieve "Interoperability"
Web services refer to specific class of applications that use platform and
programming-language-neutral data representation and communications protocols
to achieve interoperability.
By using web services, companies can assure that their applications will communicate with
those of their business partners and customers.
According to one estimate, e-commerce revenue for 2002 was 3.2% of all US commercial
transactions. ($72B out of $2.25Trillion). High-flying companies like Priceline.com
continue to disappoint investors. And Time Warner has dropped its Internet half, AOL, from
its name, perhaps as a precursor to severing the company itself.
Even within industries that the Web is dominating, such as travel bookings and music sales,
there is so much that can be done.
The reason is databases. Dusty musty databases filled with useful data that can be
much more useful if linked with other equally dusty databases; enormous databases that
are locked up inside ancient main frames and quaintly archaic minicomputers;
lonely databases residing on specialized file servers throughout an enterprise;
even modern databases on Web servers, all dressed up and ready to go,
but stuck in long-obsolete proprietary formats or accessible only through
hypermodern scripting languages.
Second-generation E-commerce will depend on unlocking those databases.
And it is starting to happen, thanks to a combination of modest technologies that together go
by the name of Web services. Web services are a way programmers can make their
databases available across the Web, let other programmers access their databases,
and tie these disparate databases together into services that are novel,
perhaps even wonderful.
Travel agents could put together vacation packages from various airlines and hotel chains,
extracting the best seasonal discounts automatically. A Web services-based wedding registry
wouldn't be limited to one department store.
Beyond these consumer applications, over the next few years, Web servives will
spur a transformation within a number of big companies including banking and insurance that
really have not had a kick-start since the 1964 introduction of IBM 360 mainframe.
Primary Technologies supporting Web Services.
XML (Extensible Markup Langauage) an alternative to HTML (Data Format)
SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) complementing HTTP (Transport Protocol)
WSDL (Web Services Description Language) standard for site description, and
(for efficient search of web site providing web services wanted)
UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration) for site registry.
(like yellow pages for organizing companies providing web services)
B. Some Social Implications
B.1 Some examples
B.2 Security
B.3 Employment
B.4 Computer Crime
B.1 Some Examples
Scenario-1: Exploring Private Systems.
Dave, a high school sophomore is an avid computer fan.
He has learned how to program in several languages and spends
a good deal of his free time accessing local public bulletin
board systems on his father's computer.
Dave's father has a computer in their home so that he can
work in the evenings and on the weekends when needed.
Dave's father has encouraged him to learn about computers and
has even set up a separate account on CompuServe, he has become
interested in other private systems.
Inside one of the private systems is a message board where
hackers exchange information on their various exploits in attacking
other private systems. Dave carefully reads these messages and often
writes, explaining step-by-step how to access a local power
company's system. Dave often jokes about how he knows his father's
electric bill before it is even received in the mail.
Dave exploits other private systems, although he never changes
the systems or any of the files available on-line. He simply
enjoys the challenge of figuring out how to "crack" systems
protection.
Scenario-2: Police Surveillance:
Joe works as a computer systems operator for a local police force
in the city of Omaha. Doris, a patrol cop, calls into the station
from her patrol car. She has just obversed a driver that looks
suspicious. Although the driver was not breaking the law, he was
pressing the speed limit and constantly looking over his shoulder.
Though it was hard to tell from the distance, he appeared to be
unkempt and unshaven. Doris took down his license plate number
and is asking Joe to check the driver out on the system.
joe uses the license plate number and calls up the file on Willis
Hawk. Hawk, age twenty-five, was recently fired from his job
at a local bakery. he is married and has two children under the
age of five, and lives in a middle-class Hispanic neighborhood.
Although he is in good standing with the local power and telephone
companies and his credit company, he is two payments behind on
his mortagage. In the past five years, he and his wife attended
several marriage counseling sessions. There is no record of
Willis ever being arrested or convicted of any crime, but a year
ago, the bakery that he worked for reported an internal theft
and requested that Willis undergo a lie detector test.
He was cleared. Joe conveys all of this information to Doris
and she decides to follow Willis for a while longer.
Scenario-3: Borrowing Computer Code.
Jean, a systems programmer, is trying to write a new tutorial for
use of her company's computer system, which will be used in other
office branches nationwide. Now, after months of tedious programming,
she has found herself stuck on several parts of the program.
Her manager, not recognizing the complexity of the problem, wants
the job completed within the next few days. Jean does not know
how to solve the problem, but she realizes that there are several
pieces of commercial software that handle similar problems quite
nicely. Upon analysis of two of these programs, she sees two areas
of code that could be directly incorporated into her own program.
She uses these segments of code. The problems she was having
are solved. She completes the project and turns it in a day
ahead of time.
B.2 Security
Authentication issue
Assurance that the communicating entity is the one that it claims to be.
In particular, the sender of message is legitimate.
Integrity issue
Assurance that data received are exactly as sent by an authorized sender.
In particular, the message is not illegimately altered by the third party with no authorization
Confidentiality issue
The protection of data from unauthorized disclosure.
Access only by the authorized party, in particular, the receiver.
Non-repudiation issue
No denial that the message was not sent or received.
Some protocols for transaction security:
Everyone using the Web for e-commerce needs to be concerned about the security
of their personal information.
There are several protocols that provide transaction security.
1. SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)
Developed by Netscape Communications, itis commonly used to secure communications on the Web.
It is built into Web Browsers including Netscape and Microsoft IE.
It operates at the network level, between the Internet's TCP/IP communications protocol and
the appliation software.
In a transaction using SSl, the sockets are secured using public-key
cryptography.
Although SSL protects information as it is passed over the Internet, it does not protect
private information such as credit-card number stored on the merchant's
server often after merchants receive and decrypt them before storing
them on their servers.
2. SET (Secure Electronic Transaction)
Developed by VISA International and MasterCard was designed specifically
to protect e-commerce payment transactions.
It uses digital certificates to authenticate each payment in an e-commerce transaction.
including the customer, the merchant and the merchant's bank.
Public-key cryptography is used to secure information as it passes over the Web.
Merchants must have a digital certificate and "Digital Wallet" software.
A digital wallet is similar to a real wallet. It stores credit card (debit)
information for multiple cards as well as a digital certificate verifying
the cardholder's identity. Digital wallets add convenience to online
shopping; customers no longer need to re-enter their credit
card information at each different site.
In the SET protocol, the merchant never actually sees the client's
proprietary information. Therefore, the client's credit-card number is not
stored on the merchant's server. So, this method reduces the risk of fraud.
B.3 Employment
1. Changing Nature of Work
a. Job elimination and creation
Increased productivity from computerization ->
Reduced working hours and more leisure?
or fewer jobs and more unemployment?
or little change in working hours and more wealth?
or less wealth?
b. Telework/telecommuting
describing the growing phenomenon of people working at a distance from
traditional company office , connected by computers.
The physical distribution of population will be changed as computers and
communications networks make it possible for companies to locate in small
towns and work with dispersed consultants instead of having hundreds of
thousands of employees in larger population centers.
And, as more people work at home, they can live further from business center.
c. Employer monitoring
Computers are giving employers increased power to monitor the work,
communications and movements of employees while giving some employees
more autonomy. These changes affect the productivity, privacy and morale of employees.
d. Changing Business Structure: Many soeculations on business size/structures
e. Health issues
Use and manufacture of computers raise some health problems.
2. Job elimination and creation.
The number of bank tellers dropped by about 37% from 1983 to 1993.
A study by Deloitte and Touche predicted that another 450,000 bank jobs would
be lost by the year 2000 because of automation and electronic banking services.
Electronic calculators made slide rules, used by engineers since the 17th century,
obsolete.
The number of telephone operators dropped from 250,000 in 1956 to 60,000 in
1995 and is expected to drop further.
The job of 35,000 electric meter readers will soon disappear as utility companies
continue to install electronic devices that will broadcast meter readings to
company computers.
As more shopping is done online, there will be fewer jobs for sales clerks.
A bank holding company receives 1.5 million customer inquiries by phone each
month; 80% are handled by computers. The company reduced the number of
customer service employees by 40%.
The New York Stock Exchange is eliminating the jobs of some 140 runners
who carry paper messages between brokers; they are being replaced by cellular
phones.
Travel agencies are closing as customers are making plane reservations via online
Services.
As more cameras record images in digital form, film processors will go out of
business.
On the other hand, there are now people who build automated teller machines and
write software for them. And people who design , build and program the
electronic calculators and computers that replaced slide rules and telephone
operators.
Besides computers themselves, there are countless new products that use computer
Technology: VCR, computer games, fax machines, cellular phones, automobile,
TV.
New products create new jobs in design, marketing, manufacturing, sales,
customer services, repair and maintenance.
Industries that benefit from improved information management are hiring
thousands of people in job categories that barely existed a decade ago. The
United Parcel Service of America, for example, now has some 3000 information
Technology workers; it had only 90 in 1983.
Overall effect of computers?
We are still in the transition to a computerized society. Incredible innovations
in communications are likely to burst onto the market in the next decade.
Cyberspace is still a frontier, just on the verge of being developed. The world of
online and interactive entertainment, commercial and information services is
likely to expand enormously. It is too soon to try to total up the number of jobs
created and eliminated by computers, but the net effect of computers will be a
gain.
3.Teleworking
The most common meaning is working for an employer at a computer-equipped office in
the employee's home. Some large businesses have set up satellite "Telecommuting
Centers" with computer and communications equipment located closer to where their
employees live than to the main business office.
In some jobs, such as sales, the office is mobile: The employee travels with a laptop
computer and wireless communications equipment.
Telecommuting also includes running a business from one's home that relies heavily on
computers and communications.
The rapidly dropping costs of communications and information transfer have encouraged
these practices.
Some figures:
a. Some 21 million Americans work at home at least one day a week, using computers
and telecommunications technology.
b. The number of home offices approximately doubled between 1988 and 1995.
c. The number of full-time telecommuters has increased from approximately 3-4
millions in 1990 to 8-10 millions in 1995.
d. Nearly 4 million people run home-based businesses.
Benefits
1. Reduced overheads
The main advantages for employers are reduced overheads and, in some cases,
increased productivity. For companies that set up scattered telework centers in suburbs to
replace large downtown offices where real estate and office rental prices are high, the
savings can be significant. For those that have moved their employees all the way to their
homes or cars (e.g. sales people), savings include closure of dozens of branch offices.
Studies in areas where work is easy to measure show a productivity increase of some 15%.
2. Energy savings.
Telecommuting reduces rush-hour traffic congestion and associated pollution and energy
use. A percent decrease in urban commuting could reduce gasoline usage by a few
million barrels per year.
Telecommuting reduces expenses for commuting and work clothes. It saves time.
3. Child care cost reduction.
4. Help employees live in suburbs.
Problems.
1. Lack of immediate supervision -> can lead to less productivity.
2. Working with young children
It can become an advantage but also a distraction to some.
3. Missing social interaction -> can lead to less productivity and low morale.
4. Lack of visibility
Some employees fear that they are handicapped for promotion and special bonus due to
lack of visibility in the office.
4. Changing business structures
Currently there are many speculations about the impact of computers and
telecommunications networks on the size and structure of business.
Some see trends toward smaller businesses and more independent consultants and
contractors—"Information entrepreneurs" as they are sometimes called. Working at home
or at telework centers not operated by one's own company loosens the tie between
employer and employee. Company loyalty and identification may decrease.
A study of a large sample of US companies found that between 1975 and 1985 the
average number of employees declined by 20%. It also found a correlation between more
computer usage and smaller firm size. The reason, however, was not that computers put
people out of work but rather that firms narrowed the focus of their activities, purchasing
more components and services from other firms. The study argues that computers and
telecommunications networks reduce the cost and uncertainty of finding and relying on
suppliers and consultants.
Of course, sometimes, legal, tax and regulatory framework has an enormous impact,
sometimes indirectly or unidentified, on business size, structure and employment
patterns. These effects may prevent or slow down changes that computers may otherwise cause.
Some foresee computers contributing to the growth of large, multinational corporations,
with mergers between giant companies. There have been many big mergers and buy-outs
in the past decade and more are being negotiated regularly. At the same time, some large
companies, like AT&T, are splitting up into smaller units.
It is not clear how much of this business concentration or downsizing comes from the
power of centralized computer systems and how much from economic and political
factors, though.
5. Employee monitoring.
a. Precomputer monitoring
Mostly for blue-collar and pink-collar workers, not constant, seen by the
employees.
b. Computer monitoring.
Professional workers also included, constant, more detailed, and not seen
by the employees.
Including
Electronic monitoring of details of performance, such as keystrokes or time
spent on customer service calls.
Physical surveillance of the movements and activities of employees
Monitoring of customer service telephone work
Access to e-mail, voice mail, and computer files of employees.
Guidelines for monitoring:established by Unions
1. Monitoring and evaluation procedures should be explained fully to employees.
2. Employees should be told when they are hired that business calls may be monitored.
3. Only business calls can be monitored, not personal ones. Employers should provide
unmonitored telephones for personal calls.
4. Employees whose performance is criticized should have access to monitoring data
and an opportunity to challenge the evaluation.
5. Problems uncovered by monitoring should lead to more training. There should be no
disciplinary action unless the employee fails to improve.
6. Employees should be involved in setting up procedures for monitoring.
7. Monitoring should not be continuous; it can be periodic.
8. Statistics on productivity should not be maintained for individual workers, but only
for groups.
9. Employees with more than five years' experience should not be monitored at all.
10. Workers should be informed each time they are to be monitored, not just in general.
B.4 Computer Crimes
B.5 Distance Learning and Future Schools.
Distance Learning involves the use of information and telecommunication
technologies such as the Internet to provide educational and training material.
It includes such online services and resources as online libraries, online journals,
Online encyclopedias and online courses.
Advantages.
a. Availability
· In isolated and remote areas
· People with special needs, the elderly and people in hospitals or prisons.
b. Access Equality: Knowledge provided to many people worldwide.
c. Flexibility
· Easy and quick research
· Save time and money
· Able to study without losing their jobs.
· Able to study at their own convenience.
d. Employment: More teaching jobs for teachers and academics.
Problems.
a. Reliability of Resources.
· Is the online material relevant to the courses?
· Is it trustworthy and scientifically justifies?
· Is it censored or biased due to cultural or political beliefs or prejudices?
b. Information Accessibility
To what extent do search engines and other online sources guide users
Properly to the appropriate e-learning resources?
c. Plagiarism
· Is e-learning material protected by copyright law?
· Is the material secured against plagiarism or malpractice?
d. Cost
· Buying all the necessary equipments for access
· To what extent do governments promote and support e-learning courses?
e. Dehumanization
· Is e-learning an appropriate educational method?
· E-learning like any other remote learning method results in a lack of contact between the student and the teacher.
· This lack of interaction creates educational and psychological problems both for students and teachers.
· Lack of contact diminishes the human factor that is essential in the transmission and communication of knowledge.
· E-mail and other online contact methods aim to reduce the problem.
· As education is an active and not a passive activity, human interaction is in most cases necessary. Educational institutes that offer e-learning services usually suggest arranged meetings between students and teachers. (However, physical distance like Phoenix and Beaumont may be a negative factor.)
Future Schools
a. IT applications in schools
· Software applications such as educational simulations and tutorials, computer hardware such as laptops and notebooks, high-tech media such as digital video and interactive television and the Internet have been effectively introduced in classrooms.
· Computer systems are also used in school administration for such purposes as student database management, library organization and school security.
· Internet enables students to download books from electronic libraries rather than carrying them out of bookstores.
· Who is going to guarantee the quality and reliability of these resources?
b. Characteristics of Future Schools.
· Students and teachers both use information and telecommunication technologies systematically in the classroom.
· “Small Classrooms” contain high-tech computer systems that inspire and provide an easy, secure learning environment.
· Good example: Don Estridge High Tech Middle School in Florida.
Most gadget-laden campus pumped up with electronics for pedagogy, connectivity and surveillance.
· Wireless microphones, virtual reality and scientific simulations, handheld microphones for answering questions and smart boards aim to enhance students’ education.
· Lessons are recorded for future educational purposes or for the absent students.
· Security is also improved: Biometric systems (like hand scanners) authenticate students’ identity and record their attendance.
· Surveillance cameras and microphones monitor activities inside and outside the classroom.
c. Some concerns.
· Students’ high dependence on computers may have negative effects such as:
Loss of skills (like Grammar and Spelling) and
computer addiction.
· Spelling-checkers may weaken students’ spelling capabilities and cause mental laziness.
· This fear of technology (also known as technophobia) includes a general skepticism about information and telecommunication technologies.
· Technophobia originates in Thamus’ criticism of the invention of writing (writing will kill memory), continues with Gutenberg’s invention of publishing (books will kill writing) and culminates with the information age (computers will kill books)