Online services online revision (education)

Sam learning is the online revision site that I am going to look at in more detail. It is a site designed specifically in helping you revise. It allows you to revise online and test yourself. You are also able to keep track of your scores and see your progress. It has been proven in helping children successfully pass there exams and that is why it is proven popular with many schools taking part and having registered with the program.

What’s its purpose?

The purpose of using an online service like ‘Sam learning’ is to give another form of revision for students to use to prepare them for learning. Everyone learns in a different way and revising online is just another method which my work well for sum people.

Advantages?

It’s an advantage to those who revise visually, who remember things or even an advantage to those who remember just by repeating things. It is good because you are tested on things that you are likely to get asked. It also is quicker and the results are kept so you can see how you are progressing without having to worry about remembering it.

Disadvantage?

The disadvantages of a service like this are that it’s all on the internet which in itself can be unreliable. It can be expensive as well if you don’t have the most cost affective way of using it. Some of the information you may be revising may not be entirely relevant to the work you are revising as it can’t be suitable for everyone.

Who is it aimed at?

It is aimed for a large age range designed to help children of all ages studying for any main exams. It helps prepare children for any major exams including GSCE’s, A-levels and SATS.

Online services download sites (source forge) (downloads)

The website for helping with downloading is www.sourceforge.net I am going to investigate this further by looking at what it has to offer and its advantages and disadvantages.

What is sourceforge.net?

Sourceforge.net is the world's largest Open Source software development web site, hosting more than 100,000 and over 1,000,000 registered users with a centralized resource for managing projects, issues, communications, and code. This proves that it is very popular and used by a lot of people.

The purpose

The purpose of the site is to allow people to upload there programmes onto the site which people are then free to download. As well as this it is possible to download programmes off the site and then moderate them to suit your need by changing there codes.



The advantages

The advantages of having a free download site available are that it is free to download appropriate programs. You also know that all the programs on the site are free and you don’t have to worry about any additional charges you may be committing yourself to without knowing when you download the program. If you don’t know what software to use you can search them easily. On the homepage the categories are set out under clear headings which make it easier to break your searches down. It also shows statistics about the most popular downloaded programs and the most active programs.

The disadvantages

If you don’t know what categories to look under it is difficult to find the appropriate programs you are looking for. It’s got to be online which can be expensive. If you only have a small modem on your computer you can be ages downloading large files

The impact of ICT on communication

Over the last twenty five years the development in ICT has changed dramatically. This has influenced particularly influenced communication. The tables below some of the developments and changes.

The impact that improved technological advances in communication has meant that contacts is a lot easier as people are able to keep in touch during work to make working easier.

It is easier for people to communicate in today's society with the aid of computers. It has helped people doing more complicated jobs much more simple and easier to do. You can communicate when your on the move, it is quicker and efficient. Email,chat, SMS and digital voice have become the way to communicate.

Email has had a large impact on communication as it is one of the most used ways of keeping in touch.

Activity 20 Online services (download services)

What sort of things can you download?

The sorts of things that are available to download vary from music to videos to pictures. You can do this over a variety of sites including itunes (which is popular at the moment) limewire, bear share and many others. As well as this you can download programs that can then be played on your computer. They can either be downloaded on sites that cost money but are 100% legal and authorised or on sites that are shared.

The purpose of using downloads?

The purpose of using downloads is:-

Saving money
Being able to download more advanced programs and being able to update them regularly
It’s more efficient than buyer programmes and having to install them separately
It’s quicker it can take seconds to download small files
They can be shared so that you c an easily download other peoples files

Activity 18 Online services online education (education)

Five educational sites that are popular and in use are:-
BBC bitesize
Channel 4 schools
Sam learning
Yaca paca.com
Teacherict.com


BBC Bitesize

Each one is about educating the user; BBC bitesize is aimed at varied levels for key stage 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. The activities and revision programmes available vary from mini activities to revision programmes. The more advanced key stages also shows ways in which revision can be made easier. The service is also adapted to the level of the user, key stage 1 being the easiest. The levels follow through with school work and help when revising. On the site information is displayed neatly and in bright colours. The information that is shown isn’t too over powering and the amount of text is kept to a minimum whilst bright colours and pictures are used as much as possible. The colour theme and picture theme is kept the same or similar throughout.


Sam learning

Sam learning is another education programme available online. It is often run through the school where many schools have chosen to introduce the programme and the things that it offers. One feature to this programme is that teachers can be part of it and set tasks to work on. They can be checked to see if they are completed by visiting each pupil’s specially allocated space. This is because each pupil involved in using the program are given a username and log in password which they can log onto and use to track there progress as they work through the activities. Sam learning can be used for pupils revision, for online homework or simple activities to help pupils progress.

Online services -Gaming (entertainment)

Gaming is also another type of online service where you can take part in games for free. Many are found on internet websites belonging to things like television soaps and other programs, as well as special gaming websites. Two in particular which I am going to look closely at are www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/smile and another which is www.bubblegumclub.com where there are many games that feature.

Target audience

The audience that these two website in particular are aimed at are children by possibly adult’s as well who want to enjoy a little childish fun. The ‘Smile’ website has been adapted in a similar way to the Sunday morning television show and this is possible how it attracts its large audience numbers. The ‘Bubblegum’ website is different to this in the fact that it doesn’t relate to a television programme yet it still proves to b quite popular. Its audience is largely add up of girls but undoubtedly attracts boys as well.

The purpose

The purpose of online gaming is so that children in particular can play games online without having to buy them. They are often small fun games with leader boards showing the names of people with the best results. The games are simple and are sometimes intended to educate but maybe without this being noticeable so that children learn whilst gaming.

The advantages

The advantages of using gaming online means that it is free and children and adults enjoy them. They may also have an educational purpose so that children in particular learn whilst they play. There are also many available and you can take part in ma ny with no limits on how many you can have.

Activity 21 online activities-radio (entertainment)

One type of online activities is listening to music. For example you can listen to music straight off the internet like on a radio site or by downloading music off sites like itunes.

The purpose

The purpose of online music and radio stations is so that people can enjoy music freely on the internet and in some cases without charge. It works in a similar way to gaming on the internet but with the use of music. Radio use is easier on the interent and reliable.

The advantages

The purpose of having music is online is so that people can enjoy listening to music without having to committing to buy it. The online radio service also allows you to listen to radio shows that may have already been played that you may have missed for example. This also means that it is possible to repeat shows if you want to hear them again.

The disadvantages

The drawbacks of using online music are finding it. Similarly to many online internet information it is difficult to find out what is best and where to find it. Sources like itunes and the BBC provide safe reliable services that you know are legal. Sometimes the only down fall to these is that they come at some cost but with this you know you won’t get any viruses for example.

Online services activity 13 online banking (commerce)

The two internet banking sites that I am going to investigate are Nationwide and HSBC .

There purpose

The purpose of internet banking site and Nationwide and HSBC in particular is to manage money in a convenient way at home.

How it fulfils it’s purpose
When using internet banking you are able to:

pay bills and make payments to family and friends

stop paper statements or change their frequency

keep your contact details up to date

view balances or transactions

manage standing orders and Direct Debits

move money between your accounts

available anytime day or night*.

It’s target audience

The target audience for internet banking is anyone who is relatively comfortable using computers and giving there details. It can be used by anyone over 18 that has an account.

It’s major advantages

The major advantages of using internet banking are being able to operate your account from home or anywhere you choose. Making it extremly convinent. This means that you don’t even have to leave the house to change money into different accounts. Its simple and you don’t have to deal with anyone personally. It can also be quicker aswell.

How it could be improved in the future?

Online banking could be improved in the future by being made even more secure so that it attracts an even larger audience and more people choose to use it. It could be made to have even more features so that more things can be used on it again attracting a larger target audience.

developing the e-book

Activity 1

Structure- simple and easy to understand so that it is suitable for all ages particularly silver surfers.

Images- the images are going to be large so that they can be seen clearly by everyone. They need to show clearly what the e-book is about and be related to it as well.

Text- The text is going to be bold so that silver surfers can read it. It also needs to be informative to tell the user a lot of information but in a simple form.

Colours- the colours I am going to use are going to be bright and bold so catch the eye of any users.

Activity 2

The e-book that I am going to create must be:-

1)Colourful
2)Interesting with lots of linked pages containing a lot of information
3)Bold text that is easy to read
4)Lots of picture to add colour and to catch the users attention
5)It must be set out neatly to make it really easy to understand, it must be logical

Online services Activity 1 about blogs (communications)

A blog is an online journal which can be used to do a variety of things including managing the posts, managing the links, allowing to comment on the posts as well as allowing html codes to be used to post images and other items.

e-book

Today I learnt how to make an e-book and I completed activities on it. I also watched demos which showed me how to make my ebook and gave me tips on how to make it better.

Online services Activity 12 visiting eBay (commerce)

The next activity I'm goin to look at is activity 12 where I have investigated eBay. The information for this is saved in word but also pasted into the blog below.

Who is the target audience?

The eBay website is aimed at potential buyers and sellers of pretty much any produce. It sells things in a range of categories including ‘Arts’, ‘Watches and Jewellery’, ‘Music’, ‘Photography’, ‘Antiques’ and many, many more. EBay is The World's Online Marketplace and it enables trade on a local, national and international basis. It has a diverse and passionate community of individuals and small businesses as well as offering an online platform where millions of items to traded each day. Hundreds of items are sold every hour and are sold on the highest bid basis.

How the auction process works

The auction process works by customers biffing on the items/items they wish to purchase. The auction is only open for a limited time and this varies from 1day up to 10days. In this time customers can either bid on the product or ‘watch the item’ until it comes closer to the end of auction. In many cases the number of people bidding at the end of the auction increases dramatically. If you successfully bid the highest price you have won the auction and are then given further instructions on how to pay.
An alternative buying method without bidding is clicking the ‘buy it now’ button. Often this does mean you may pay a slightly higher price for the item but in return you are assured that you will win the item and won’t loose out on it at the very last minute. Similarly to the auction method you are then given clear instructions on how to pay.

How well it fulfil its purpose and the limitations in place

I believe eBay serves its purpose very well and this is proved in the site being the world’s largest auction site. I serves it purpose by allowing customers to give there opinions on sellers and even buyers. This is known as feedback and allows people who miss treat the system or do something which may cause inconvenience to shame and allows future or buyers or sellers to find out this information before they commit to buy. Other restrictions that eBay implies to make sure that the purpose of the site is used to its full potential are warnings which are often given to known payers, feud restrictions so people can’t describe or upload false pictures of the items that they are selling.

What are the benefits of the service?

The main benefit of the service is that it is online and items can be bought without even leaving the home. It also means that items can b bought they maybe you can’t find anywhere else; a good example would be collectables or antiques which are rare. It can fetch enormous amounts of money particularly if they are products which people don’t particularly want. Another major benefit is the selling of 2nd hand goods which fetch large sums of money of which may have otherwise been thrown away if this service wasn’t available. As the marketplace is on such a large basis items can be sold worldwide and that is why items may fetch more money than they would elsewhere.

Online Services Activity 6 instant messenger (communications)

The next activity i am looking at is activity 6! This involves having a convasation on msn messenger. All the work for this is saved in a files called 'activity 6 msn'. I have saved a screen shot of a small number of contacts that were online.

I decided to have a converstaion with Sam and the topic suggested for us to discuss was concerning;- the purpose of email, how well it meets these purposes and the advantages and drawbacks of email. I have taken four screen shots of the conversation that we had.

Online services Activity 4 exchanging documents by email (communiction)

Today i completed activity 4! This involved me sending an email to other people in my group with a link to my blog!!

The email I sent was

From: Rebecca RIPPIN (Boston High School) Sent: 13 September 2006 09:40To: Rosie STONE (Boston High School); Samantha THORLEY (Boston High School); Max HALLETT (Boston High School); Sophie KEEBLE (Boston High School)Subject: my new blog

Just letting you no I have made a blogger account!! The address is http://beccirippin.blogspot.com/!!
Could you visit it please telling me what you think!! Let me know if you want me to review your blog!!
Lv becci x.x.x.x

I have recieved 6 emails with peoples blog addresses on them.

I have placed screen shots and copies of my emails in a file called 'activity 4 emails'. The responses I have recieved have all been good! I think people liked my blog. In order to have got more constructive criticism I think I could have made my emails more detailed possibly asking how I could have made my blog better. In order to try and solve this problem I am going to email some more people asking this time for feedback and critiscism. To sure the changes that people suggest I am going to put a before and after screen shot on my blog.








This was an email i received suggesting things that I coudl change.
Sophie suggested that I made my text slightly bigger and used a more interesting font. I have therefore taken my two screen shots showing the changes before and after Sophies suggestions.




This was what my blog looked like before.

This is a screen shot of my blog after comments from other members of my group of how I could improve it. I'm stll not entially happy with the the deisgn and still feel thar improvements could made.

Diary-my 1st blog

In my 1st I.T lesson set up this blogger!! It seems quite complicated but hopefully I will get the hang of it.

I have decided that the areas that I am going to look at are communication, real time information, commerce, education, download services.