Test
#1 Review Sheet
The first exam will cover the following material:
If you would like to see an example of the types of questions that I ask, and my “style of questions”, then please click on this link right here. Please be aware that these are items that you will NEVER see on any of your exams so don’t waste any time trying to memorize the answers to these questions. Use them to get a better idea about the style of questions that I might ask.
There will be multiple choice and True/False questions. The questions will cover the following topics:
IDEA Framework: Please review the class
syllabus and the FAQ page
regarding the IDEA framework that is being used in this course. Due to its importance, I have placed one or
more questions on the exam related to the IDEA framework and how students
should be using it to focus their study efforts.
HTML and Web Page Design: Please
click here to download reading material regarding HTML and web page design
¨ Identify
·
What is HTML?
·
NEW: What is the key to attracting viewers and
getting them to return back to your web site?
¨ Describe
·
How has the focus of web page design changed over time? (please see
HTML and Web Page Design slide #2)
¨ Evaluate
·
Make sure that
you know and can use the HTML commands found on the HTML commands sheet. You
will see examples of coding and have to pick out the correct or incorrect code
for a particular situation.
·
Be able to
distinguish between good web page design characteristics and bad web page
design characteristics. You will
probably see several questions in this area.
·
Please check out
the Bad Web Page Design Guide, found
at http://www.jaydax.co.uk/tutorials/webdesign/badpageguide/badpgguide.html
XML: Please review the XML materials that
you were given as part of your pre-lab and project work since those tutorials
also serve as your XML book.
¨ Identify
·
What is the rule
regarding having spaces within your XML tags?
·
What are some of
the rules that must be followed for a document to be considered well-formed?
¨ Describe
·
Know what XML is
and how it is used.
·
What is XBRL and
how is it used?
·
During class, I read
an article from the Wall Street Journal dealing with XBRL, titled: “XBRL: The
Language of Love for Mutual Funds”.
I would suggest reviewing the full text of the article as part of your
preparations for the exam.
¨ Evaluate
·
Know how XML and
HTML are different.
·
Know the
difference between a well-formed XML instance document, an XML Stylesheet, and a XML schema. How is each used?
·
What is the
difference between a well-formed XML instance document and one that is not
well-formed? What can cause an XML instance document to NOT be considered
well-formed?
Chapter 1: Business Driven Technology
¨ Identify
·
Know the four
components of an information system: input, output, processing, and feedback.
·
What is ERP
software?
·
Make sure that
you review which business function areas (figure 1.2) would benefit most from
using information technology.
·
Please review the
contents of the slide “Information Technology enables business success)
¨ Describe
·
Be able to
distinguish between data, information and business intelligence. Know examples of each.
·
What are the 3
most important resources in any organization and what is the relationship
between each of those items? Which is
the most valuable and why?
·
Know which IT
skills are most commonly used in each of the business professions (don’t just
know your area, but know all areas)?
Which ones appear to be common to all business areas? Expect to see several questions related to
this topic. In the lecture notes, you
will also see several more detailed slides (that I did not directly mention in
class) that cover this topic. Please
make sure you review those detailed slides, as well.
·
Describe how
businesses use ERP software and what ERP software does.
·
Describe Business
Intelligence and what is included in business intelligence? How is it used in making strategic business
decisions?
·
Make sure that
you review the information technology goals that an organization might have
(figure 1.3). Know the rank order of
those goals and information technology services which might help an
organization meet those goals (see the notes you took down during class).
¨ Evaluate
·
What is the
difference between data and information and how can one be distinguished from
the other?
·
Be able to
compare and contrast the characteristics of the four organizational information
cultures.
Chapter 3: Strategic Initiatives for Implementing Competitive Advantages
¨ Identify
·
What is ERP
software?
·
What is a
competitive advantage?
·
What is the
concept of BPR?
¨ Describe
·
Describe how a
business might use information technology to gain a competitive advantage? What specific things might a business decide
to do?
·
Describe the
benefits of effectively and efficiently managing your organization’s supply
chain?
·
Describe why businesses
implement ERP systems
·
What are the
characteristics of ERP software and how is it used by organizations?
¨ Evaluate
·
Compare and
contrast SCM, CRM and ERP software.
·
Compare and
contrast the characteristics of each of the following concepts: BPR, CRM, SCM,
ERP
Business Plug-In B3: Hardware and Software: You will
also see questions related to Leopard on the exam. I would suggest that you review the Walt
Mossberg Wallstreet Journal article and/or the video clip from Walt dealing with Leopard’s features.
¨
Identify
·
What is
hardware? What makes up hardware?
·
What is
software? What are specific categories
of software
·
What is the
purpose of input devices?
·
What is systems
software? Know several examples of
commonly used systems software.
·
What is
applications software? Know several
examples of commonly used applications software.
·
What is the
difference between hardware and software?
·
NEW: What is the
difference between systems software and applications software?
·
Make sure
that you know the different versions of Office and what software programs are
in each one (hint: I would know what version has the software we use in this
class)
·
Know the
approximate market share each of the different web browsers (as seen in the
PowerPoint notes).
·
What is the
difference between spreadsheet software vs database
software vs word processing software vs web browsing software vs
systems software?
·
What is OpenOffice? What is
open-source software? Where do you find OpenOffice used?
·
Market shares
were provided for operating systems and web browsers. Make sure that you know those for each
category.
·
What is the name for
the NEXT version of Windows?
¨
Describe
·
Make sure that
you review the different input devices mentioned in the text and in class. Know
examples of how each one is commonly used.
·
NEW: What is the most
important function of any operating system?
How is the operating system different from an input device or output
device?
·
Describe the
general characteristics/differences between spreadsheet software and database
software.
·
Make sure that
you review Google’s efforts into developing online-applications programs (the
Google spreadsheet and word processor).
·
Make sure that
you review the characteristics, market share, and differences between Internet
Explorer vs Safari vs Opera
vs FireFox/Netscape/Mozilla.
·
Review the
features/characteristics of Apple Computers and the Mac OS X. What is Aqua,
Leopard, Tiger, BootCamp, CoverFlow,
QuickLook and TimeMachine? What type of processor is now found in Apple
computers?
·
Be able to
describe how RFID works.
·
Make sure that
you know the characteristics and differences between Windows, the Mac Operating
Systems, and Linux. You will see
several questions dealing with the characteristics of these operating systems.
·
What is Linux and
what are its characteristics? Where is it typically found and why are companies using it?
·
Microsoft’s
Office software suite and OpenOffice can be used for
the same types of tasks. For each type
of software (word processing, spreadsheet, database, presentation software),
know the corresponding Office product and corresponding OpenOffice
product.
·
What is Windows
Vista and what are some of its characteristics?
·
What is Windows 7
and what are some of the expected new/improved features?
¨
Evaluate
·
Compare and
contrast how and when you might use some of the different input devices covered
in class and the textbook.
·
How is Radio
Frequency Identification used and how might it be used in the future? How does it compare to other input
devices? Please review page 217 in the
text to find out more information about how RFID works.
·
What are the differences between systems
software and applications software? What are the general subcategories of each
type of software?
·
What is Safari
and what are its characteristics? What is FireFox and its
characteristics? What is
Opera and its characteristics? What is
Google Chrome? How do Safari, Chrome,
Opera and FireFox compare to each other and how do
they compare to Internet Explorer?
·
Compare and
contrast the use of RFID vs bar code scanning vs magnetic ink character recognition vs
optical mark recognition vs optical character
recognition vs touch screen. When might each of them be used?
·
What is
open-source software and how is it different from proprietary software (closed
source)? What examples in class have
been given to illustrate open-source software and closed-source software?
·
Make sure that
you read and review pages 318-331 in your text, focusing on the descriptive
text and boxed figures where examples and usage of Input Devices, Systems
Software and Applications Software are given.
Questions may be asked regarding the content of these areas, even though
they were briefly touched upon in class.
Know the examples in each of the categories and how usage of one example
compares to usage of another example.
·
Compare and
contrast the characteristics and common usage of Windows Vista, Leopard and
Linux. Under what circumstances would
someone select to use one operating system over the others?
The
textbook has a student learning center that contains many different resources
that you might want to take a look at, including multiple choice review
questions and the textbook’s version of PowerPoint slides. You can take a look at that material by
visiting http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0073376744/student_view0/index.html
Make sure that you review the PowerPoint
presentations. You may also see exam questions that cover material covered in
class that may not be in your actual texts.
At the same time, please make sure that you have read the material in
the text for the topics that will appear on the exam.