Blog 4: 22/02/2018

Lecture:

This week the lecture was based on ‘Enhancing Business Intelligence Using ISs’. Haider had explained about the database management system (DBMS). Haider had explained that this allows businesses to organise information. He had then explained about database as this would include entities, records and attributes. At first, I did find this a little confusing but then he had explained this by showing us an example. He had showed us an enmity student example which showed me on how an entity represented. He had then explained on advantages of database approach, which was very interesting.

Haider then started explaining about business analytics which is used to predict the future. This lecture was a little confusing but still very understanding. Some aspects of the lecture I was able to understand but as Haider was speaking a little fast it did get confusing. Next lecture I would make sure that I let Haider know that he did speak a little too fast for me to understand. Even though after the lecture was finished then I went home and looked at the notes that were given. After reading the presentation slides again I had understood about the lecture. This lecture was interesting but due to, I was not able to concentrate much, I had missed a lot of information. Even though I did get the information by reading the slides again. Next time I would make sure to stay focused on listening to Haider as this way I would understand everything he would be saying.

Seminar:

I had attended my seminar session on 22nd February 2018; in the session we had focused on our excel activity. Firstly, we had focused on finishing off the excel activity that I had started last week. I was taught why adding a '$' sign would affect the digits. I had learnt that adding a $ sign would make a fixed digit that would not change. We had focused on basic functions which was very useful as I am not familiar with excel. Through learning the basic it would give me an idea on how excel works.

As well as this excel activity, we had also focused on a case study which was about YouTube. Susie had handed out a case study and we had read the case study in groups. In my group, I had worked with Ponni and Mumtahin. After reading the case study we had answer questions. I use YouTube quite often as I am aware on how to use it. On aspect that we had focused mostly was if businesses use YouTube to promote good image. This was very interesting as we were able to get everyone's views on how they found YouTube. I had realised that if YouTube or any other social site used by businesses is not used properly then it would affect them long term as their brand image and reputation would be ruined. This seminar session was very engaging and I was able to learn a lot. 

Group work:

We had a meeting on Monday about our findings after lectures. At the meeting one of team member Ponni did not attend but had sent us her bit of the work through our Whatsapp group chat as she wasn't well. I had asked Assanatu to tell me what problems she has found about the business but she had told me that she did not even listen to the recording that i had sent last week. As she was not able to stay too long, we told her to listen to the recording by Tuesday and give us an idea of the possible problems she has found. Veroica then had explained the possible problems she had found and explained to all of us of her findings. She explained to Assanatu on what she thought as she was confused about the business. I then told everyone to have a meeting on Tuesday as this way Assanatu would have heard the recording and would understand what we were talking about.

One of my group member Mumtahin was getting a little annoyed over Assanatu and Ponni excuses as it was delaying the work. We felt like me, Mumtahin and Veroica are doing all the work as there was not much contribution from Ponni and Assanatu. This is because according to the amount of work we have done so far. Me and Mumtahin had found the business, attended on the interview with the business manager. We had also come up with problems and solutions for the business. Veroica had come up with questions that was asked during the interview, attended the interview and had also came up with problems and solutions. Whereas Ponni and Assanatu showed no contribution apart from replying to WhatsApp messages.

Suman Tanveer

Blog 3:15/02/2018

15/02/2018

Lecture:

For this weeks lecture we had focused on 'Managing IS Infrastructure & Services' with Haider Zuhair Bilal. Firstly within the lecture we had watched a video on 'The future of technology and humanity'.
This was spoken by Gerd Leonhard who has explained that humanity would change more in the next 20 years than the last 300 years. He had explained on how technology is moving inside of us and would become a part of us. One aspect that I had found really interesting and had made me think twice was when he had told us a prediction that by '2027 computers would likely be match the capacity of a human brain'.

This had shocked me as I did not know that it would take roughly only 10 years for technology to possible reached at awareness or emotional intelligence. This made me think on how fast technology is moving and in the future we could move forward to transcend humanity. This made me feel uncomfortable as it may be beneficial but it would also have a lot of consequences. The advances can be dangerous as through this we would be losing our privacy and  if we had failed to consider the unattended consequences this can cause a intelligence explosion. I didn't realise this as if we we are careful with technology then this can cause technology to be dangerous to humanity. This video was shown in order to make us realise how fast technology is moving and made me think if this really is a positive or negative.

After the video we had focused on lecture which was about the components of information system (IS) infrastructure. I had learnt that the IS infrastructure would enable us process, store and transmit data through hardware, software, DB, communication/network & people. As for hardware there are a range of computer types that are used for different uses and would have a typical cost. Hiader Bilal then explained about the systems software vs application software. Systems software would be more based on controlling the basic operation of the computer such as hardware, coordinating. Whereas application systems would be performing specific user tasks such as creating a presentation. This was interesting as I do use a computer and I realised that they are different software that would control different aspects. Haider then moved onto computer networking where he had explained that is used to share information which can be through cable or wireless. Although I knew about this already, one aspect that I had found interesting was digitisation (Binary code). As every letter within the computer has a number code.

Haider then explained about the internet and web wide web (WWW) which is used through the internet. One aspect I found interesting was that the internet uses IP numeric addresses which is IPV4 (old system) and IPV6 (new system). He then went further onto the issues of managing the IS infrastructure. There were a range of issues based on managing the IS infrastructures as one of them were software obsolescence. This aspect was interesting as I had learnt about 'Vicious circle' as this enhances the capacities of new applications. Overall  this lecture was very interesting and made me realise on how fast technology is moving and the varies components of IS infrastructure and its issues.

Seminar:

In today's seminar we had focused on excel activity, we had focused on how to find out the average, maximum and minimum formulas. I had realised how easy it is to use excel as I always had found it a a lot complicated. In order to find the average I was told that we would need the formula '=AVERAGE(B2:B5)' and just like that if we needed to find the maximum or minimum you would just add MAX and MIN. For instance in order to find the maximum we would need the formula '=MAX(B2:B5)'  and to find the minimum we would need the formula to be 'MIN(B2:B5)'.This was very useful as next time in my assignment, it would save me a lot of time to calculate the average, minimum and maximum.

We had also done the timetable analysis worksheet we had had on how to calculate the total hours , average hours.,maximum hours and minimum hours. This was done in order to put the formulas into action so this way we know how to use the formulas in real life situations. This seminar was very useful as I am starting to understand how excel works. I was able to successfully complete my activity within the seminar. I had found this interesting as I found it easy to calculate the amounts using formulas.

Groupwork:

My seminar teacher Susie Wolstenholme had asked every group on what stage they were at. I had told her that we have found a company who is willing to give us information and have done one interview with the manager. She then had asked us on the roles of each group member and told us that as we are a group of 5 we need to make sure that every group member knows what is going on.

As we had recorded the meeting, I had then sent that to the group chat in order for everyone to listen to the audio and think of problems and solutions by next week. For the interview me, Mumtahin and Veroica had attended the interview and asked questions to the manager. Within our group, we had set a meeting for the group on where we can share ideas of the possible problems the company may have. We had composed a meeting on Monday after our lectures. As we had more time, we had decided to think of the possible problems that the company has. We had then taken the time to get information about the company online and had found some problems.

For our teamwork, we have found a business 'Games and Gadgets' who would be willing to give us information about their business. We had a meeting with the manager and had asked questions based on their information system. According to our plan we are on track with the group work but can fall behind because of our group members. I would need to make sure to keep in contact with my group members. Next week we would have a meeting to see what findings each individual has found.

Suman Tanveer

Blog 2: 08/02/2018

08/02/2018

Lecture:

I had my second lecture on the 5th February 2018 with Hiader Bilal. His lecture was focusing on reflective writing. In the lecture we were taught about what is reflection, why we need to do it and the main purpose of reflection. From my perspective I did not know how important reflection really is. I had learnt that reflection develops the understanding and gives me a path to move forward. This had made me realised how important it is to reflect as this way we can think of what we understood and keep a reminder so this way if we forget about what we did, we can look back which would assist us in the future. Haider had told us that 'people who reflect and keep a plan on what needs to be done for the day are one of the most successful people in the world'. This had shocked me as i had agreed with it as if we have a plan on what needs to be done by the day and we tick it off then that would mean we get more work done and move forward. This is because we reflect on where we are and what needs to be done and we give us small goals for the day. Having consistent small goals and completing them would motivate us to move forward.

Haider also had taught us about Borton's (1970) cue questions and the three elements of Borton. The elements of Borton are:

• Experience: What?
• Reflection: So what?
• Action: Now what?

When Haider was explaining about the three elements, I had thought that I can interpret this in my group work for my assignment as this way I would be able to set goals on what needs to be done.
I had found this interesting as with the first element was 'experience' it would be based on describing event or process. This would mean describing on what happened so this way in our group work, we could have a meeting to let us know what we have done and to know what the others have done in the group for the week.

'Reflection' is the second element which would be about thinking and drawing conclusions. This would mean thinking if the things that have happened, were they done according to plan? This had mad me realise how important reflection is as this way we would be able to see what exactly has happened and if it didn't happen to plan then what could we have done differently. This way it would avoid problems that may have occurred.

This would lead to the third element 'action' where the future goals and actions are done. This element is based on what we can do next time and the possible consequences of your actions may be. These three elements really made me think on what I can do within my group work and how I can include this into my group work.

Haider had explained to us about focused free writing and reflective writing. I had realised the difference between the two which made me think that I do keep a diary which is more based on focused free writing as this is based on the experience I had and I would write without stopping for 5 to 15 minutes. Whereas a reflective writing is more based on the Borton's 3 elements and Gibbs Reflective cycle.

Above the the Gibbs model that Haider had explained to us. This was useful as I wanted to have a more detailed cycle that I could follow in my group work. Once Haider had explained this, I understood the cycle and decided to discuss this model with my group. This lecture was very useful and interesting as I was given example of a bad reflection and a good reflection in order for me to see the difference. This had given me an idea on what I should include in my reflective writing. Another aspects that was interesting was that we were taught the difference between a descriptive writing and a reflective writing.

Seminar:

On the 8th February 2018, I had attended my second seminar. Firstly in the seminar we had discussed on the Business tools. We were given a sheet to do for homework so in the first part of the seminar we had discussed on our findings. We had discussed on what is a business case, what is the role of an analyst, what typical steps that are required to analyse a business. We had also discussed on our Role and what possible steps we need to do. This had given me an idea on what I would need to do within my team.

Another aspect that we had learnt within the seminar was Excel. We were taught beginner skills that were needed in order to find out total, average, count, largest, smallest, equal, multiple, divide, percentage on Excel. This was interesting as I am not familiar with Excel. Susie was very helpful as she come round each and every one of us to see if we have done it and then would move onto the next step.

Group work:

Everyone in the group had attended to seminar which was the best opportunity to have a small meeting at seminar session on everyone's ideas on what type of company we should focus on. I had then discussed with my group about this as we still have not chosen the company that we are going to be focusing on. It was difficult for us to choose a company as we were unsure that we may not be allowed to get information. For that reason I had suggested to my group that after our seminar we go to our local superstore near Elephant and Castle and we could go to several shops and ask them if they are willing to give us information. Viorica also suggested that we should email businesses about this as this would be easier. I told her that we could do that too but we should also go in store as this way they would see us in person. If we had more than one company who would be willing to give us information that could then choose the store that we can get information from. Some of my team members had agreed to come with me to ask stores but some group member were busy. They wouldn't be able to make it as they did not have free time.

I told the group about the Gibbs model that we learnt in lecture with Haider and they seemed very interested. I told them we could follow the cycle in order for us to reflect on if we have achieved our objectives for the week. Everyone had agreed on this concept and as we still had time we had thought of the possible questions we can ask to the stores as this way it would look professional. As our main objective for the week was to find a business that would allow us information. I had told the group to think of more questions on what we can ask so this way if we have a business by this week, we can have a meeting with the business by the end of next week. We could have a meeting on Monday where everyone would contribute on the questions we can ask. Everyone had agreed to this and I told them that if we do find a business this week then I would let them know by our Whatsapp group chat.

Suman Tanveer

Blog 1: 01/02/2018

Lecture:

I had attended my first lecture on Monday 29th February 2018 with Haider Zuhair Bilal. He had given us a guideline on the Management and Information Systems. He had told us about TurnItIn and plagiarism in order for us to be familiar about it. I had learnt how TurnItIn works and was told to ensure to add references if I wanted to add further information from different sources in my work. I was given an introduction on what this module is based on and how we are going to be assessed. Haider has explained on how IT is a bigger requirement in businesses as Technology is moving faster. This has interested me as I did not realise how fast technology is moving. As Haider was speaking about technology, I had wondered in 10 years time how advance would technology be.

Seminar:

For this weeks seminar we were given a guideline of this assignment group work. We were taught that we needed to form a group and find a business that would let us do research based on their information systems. I was very interested as I enjoy doing group work and found it interesting as we had find a business and conduct meeting with the business. We had to ask questions to the business of our choice based on information systems. I was told that the questions must be asked in order to find the problems and solutions on their information systems. This could be based on how they manage their website etc. Susie also had taught us how to make a blog. I have never made a blog so this was new to me. I needed to make a blog every week as a form of reflection on what we learnt and did this week.

Group work 

1st February 2018, I had my first seminar on management and information systems with Susie Wolstenholme. Susie had told us that 50% of our mark for this module was based on group work so we were told to form a group of 4 to 5 people. I had decided to work with Ponni, Viorica, and Mumtahin. Susie had given us a team agreement sheet where we needed to put the names of the team members in the group and put our signature as form of agreement. There were certain agreement rules that we needed to read and agree on. For example one of the agreements was that ' Everyone must attend and be on time'. I agreed to all the rules as I found all of them just as important as this way everyone would participate in the group work. Once everyone had agreed on team agreement rules and put down their and signature, we had then started to think of a name for the group. We had a range of ideas for the name for the group. As a group we had decided to name our group name to be 'DiamondIS'.  Mumtahin and I had come up with the name; as she suggested that we should be called Diamonds but as this name was existed I had added 'IS' which stands for 'Information Systems'. This is a unique name that hasn't been used yet. I had shared this name with my team members had liked the idea behind it.

Just as we had decided on our group, Assanatu had asked us as group if she could join in our group as the group she was in she was not comfortable working with them. We thought about it as a group as we didn't really need another person but we decided to let her join in the group. Assanatu had agreed with the team agreement. I told her about her our group name is called 'DiamondIS' and she agreed with it. After that we had then told Susie about Assanatu joining in our group.

Once the group was formed, I had asked for everyone for their phone number so I could add them onto a group chat. My friend Mumtahin had made a Whatsapp group chat so this way we could keep contact of each other. As we needed to find a business and ask for permission, we had then decided that on 9th February 2018 we are going to different stores together and ask them if they would allow us to do a research based on their information systems. We still need to decide on what organisation we are going to be focusing on.

Suman Tanveer