Syllabus - Course Outline

400E “eCommerce and Communications: a survey course”

Facilitator


Michael Henry
Course Facilitator

Updated 06/09/2009

Description

This is a survey class of eCommerce and online financial issues. Issues related to business confidence, information exchange in terms of buying and selling items on the Internet, investing strategies, and business structure will be explored. The class will be delivered online and participants will be able to work on modules at any time. There are four modules in the class: Corporate Confidence, Information Generation, Intelligent Investing and Business Structure. Each module will provide focus for discuss and application of online commerce and communication skills. The course will culminate in a project designed to illustrate the issues discussed in the class. The project is an eCommerce site, in prototype form. The project may be produced in a team or individually. There will be one face to face session at the beginning of the semester. All other work may be done at a distance using the BlackBoard online course environment.

At the end of this course, participants should be able to:

  • Identify effective uses of eCommerce tools.
  • Identify criteria for evaluating financial and eCommerce information.
  • Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of various technologies for particular eCommerce objectives
  • Identify ways Internet technologies may affect business in general and eCommerce.
  • Create an eBusiness Plan and eCommerce structure.
  • Understand issues related to credit cards, tax, shipping, and security.
  • Identify methods to attract customers and market an eCommerce site.
  • Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of eCommerce solutions, including renting a service provider or building a solution.

Teaching Philosophy

This online course will provide active learning experiences, through online activities.  Successful completion of the course will require team and individual projects.   Collaboration and teamwork will be stressed in each module to simulate current business practices for the creation of Internet communication or new media communications. 
 

Mediated Teaching Modes

This course will be delivered using a “blended” approach: face-to-face orientation and online activities.  We will use a team approach to projects. These technologies include multimedia topic introductions, asynchronous activities, which may be completed individually or in teams and synchronous online web conferences.  The course will begin with a face-to-face orientation, to ensure participation and understanding of the teaching modes.
 

Expectations

Readings: Participants are expected to read all assigned materials thoughtfully and keep a reading journal, summarizing articles read with a short paragraph. Read with the objective of understanding the key ideas, rather than trying to memorize the information.  Participants will be encouraged to follow coverage of communication technologies in the popular press during the semester.  Each module has one required reading assignment.  You will read and post your notes from one article in each module.  You will also need to post one reaction to an article posted by another participant in this class.

Assignment due dates:  One of the advantages to an online class is the flexibility it offers in when and where participants choose to do the work. Another advantage is the opportunity to interact with other students online. To support both objectives, assignments have target due dates. You are free to submit assignments early, but you should keep up with the targets to avoid having a great deal to do at the end of the semester.

Directed discussions: Topics for discussion are posted by the instructor.  Post appropriate and on-topic comments in the directed discussions. A general discussion area is provided for comments or other topics not included in the directed discussions.  Your own comments in response to the initial topic or to subsequence postings are part of the participation requirement for the class.  Cite references and source material, unless the discussion is an "Opinion Discussion."

Participation in discussions is a critically important part of each student's performance. Your contributions to discussion are among your most valuable contributions to the course. Discussion questions are given in each Lesson. In discussions, we won't have strict concern for formality and grammatical correctness; however, your language, grammar and spelling should be equivalent to that in a classroom discussion.  (Informality at the level of Internet chat groups or text messaging is not appropriate.) Some students find it helpful to compose their discussion posts offline and paste them into the discussion window.  Also, please use the spell checker provided for each post in Blackboard (look for the ABC with the check mark next to it).

To demonstrate your understanding of the readings and discussions:

  • Answers should be based on the required readings and discussions.

  • Please seek clarification if you don't understand the reading and/or the assignment question.

  • Students should ask and answer questions about readings and assignments publicly, in the Class Discussions, to help out everyone in our learning community.

  • The other students and the Mentor should be able to learn from reading the discussion. In class discussion, students should:

    • Make their initial posts as thoughtful as possible

    • Accept and encourage other students to learn by actively joining in the critique and comments

    • Be capable of providing polite and appropriate public criticism and publicly defending their claims

Criteria for Grading Discussion Participation

Your discussion contributions and leadership are graded subjectively, based on the following factors:

  • Quality of contribution: "Me too" comments and quips that add life to a discussion are welcome, but they carry no particular weight. Comments with content that reflects your having read the assignments carry weight, and comments which reflect reading, understanding and analyzing the assigned readings carry the most weight.
     

  • Regularity of contribution: Grades are not solely based on the number of contributions, but this class is heavily based in readings and discussion. Therefore, if you are not a regular contributor with quality contributions, it reflects less credit on you and your involvement in the course.
     

  • Number of course accesses: The instructor checks course statistics regularly to see who is accessing the course. Grading is not based solely on the number of course accesses, but when one student has accessed the discussion area 150 times at the end of the term and another has accessed it only 20 times, it is apparent that there is a clear disparity in the degree to which those students have dedicated their time and attention to the course.

Academic integrity: It is presumed that all work submitted is the original work of the participant whose name appears on it and was prepared originally for this course. Plagiarism and other acts of academic dishonesty are subject to academic penalties ranging from no credit for the assignment to a failing grade for the course.

Course Outcomes: Students should be able to

·       Identify qualities of a successful online eCommerce business

·       Analyze team requirements for eCommerce operations

·       Evaluate knowledge, skills, abilities of individuals for team requirements

·       Identify ethical considerations in eCommerce operations

·       Define and demonstrate key technologies, including navigation, URL, html and text email, search engines, database search, interactive multimedia, physical connections, Internet Service Providers, hosting,  and plug-ins.

·       Create and update a personal profile and personal web page, using form submission.

·       Find and utilize an Internet tutorial on eCommerce

·       Define key terms related to eCommerce

·       Establish an eCommerce Vision and business goals.

·       Create an eCommerce implementation plan, including security, marketing and transaction flow.

 

 

Course Outline

Module I:
Corporate Organization and Incorporation

·       Corporate Confidence

·        eCommerce Vocabulary

·        Leadership and Vision

·        Team Building

·        Corporate Ethics

·        eCommerce Business Plans

·        Internet Technology and Communication Systems

·        Plug-ins and Internet Communication Programs

 

Activities

-                     1-1 Personal Web Page.  Create a personal profile, with a photograph, using form submit technology.  This page will include participant skills and experiences related to eCommerce, business, finance and technology.

-                     1-2 Business Plan Basics.  Review a business plan template or model of your choice.

-                     1-3 eCommerce Vision Statement.  Participants will create a vision for an eCommerce project, which will be developed as the final project.

-                     1-4 Reading Reflection.  Select a reading based on the topics in this module, think about the value of the reading, then report back to us regarding the good and bad aspects of the reading.  Each module has one reading reflection activity.  Select your own reading, or use one of the suggested readings from the module.  Be sure to make an appropriate reference to the online resource.  Here is the style guide:

Reference Humanities Style:  Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Document." Title of  Complete Work [if applicable]. Version or File Number [if  applicable]. Document date or date of last revision [if  different from access date].  Protocol and URL address (date of access).

Suggested Reading:
Regan, Keith.  "New Rule of E-Commerce: Go Back to the Old Rules."  E-Commerce Times. August 21, 2002.  Online URL: 
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/19101.html

            Or select a reading from this site:
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/

 

Module II:
Information Generation

·        Credible Information regarding eCommerce, Advertising and Business.

·        Search Engine technology.

·        Improving site traffic

·        Information warehousing and virtual libraries.

·        Research your eCommerce Plan - Demographics and Market Trends.

·        The value of references, hyperlinks and bibliographies for Internet sources.

·        Using services like Whois and Verisign to evaluate Internet information.

·        Domain registration process and information.

·        Usenet comments from individuals from sites like deja.com.



 

Activities

-                     2-1 Final Project Proposal.  Create a proposal for a complete eCommerce operation.  Identify the product or service, business plan components, and designate this project as a team project or individual project.  Follow the Rubric for creating original information.  Pick a topic from the list or create your own.

-                     2-2 Reading Discussion.  You may comment on this reading or find a reading about eCommerce. 

-           Suggested Reading: 

            Alistair G. Smith.  "Testing the Surf: Criteria for Evaluating Internet Information Resources." The Public-Access Computer Systems Review, vol. 8, no. 3. 1997.  Online URL: 
http://info.lib.uh.edu/pr/v8/n3/smit8n3.html

            Or find an article from this site:
http://www.cas.usf.edu/lis/il/process.html


Find an article about eCommerce and Reliable Information.

 

Module III:
Intelligent Investing

·        Financial and business resources.

·        Investing Time, Talent, Treasure

·        Focusing on the vision and goal

·        Legal considerations for eCommerce

·        Technical design of an eCommerce site

·        Evaluating the Build / Buy technology issue

·        Evaluating eCommerce solutions

 

Activities

-                     3-1  Intelligent Investing Activity.  Participants will review and identify effective investing strategies.  Investing of Time, Talent and Treasure. 

-                    3-2  eCommerce Plan Structure  Participants will develop the framework for their final project.  Details and narrative do not need to be included, simply the heading of each section of the eBusiness plan.

-                     3-3  Reading.  You may comment on this reading or find one of your own regarding eCommerce Business Plans.

            Suggested Reading:

            Greenspan, Robyn.  "Your Outline for Success."  E-Commerce-Guide.com - Insights - ECTips.  March 18, 2003.  Online URL: 
http://ecommerce.internet.com/news/insights/ectips/article/0,,10380_1026381,00.html

            Or an article regarding business plans from this site:
http://ecommerce.internet.com

-              Quiz.  Information Evaluation Techniques.

 

Module IV:
eBusiness Infrastructure

·        Project Management

·        Organizational Structure

·        Technical Structure

·        Safety and security

·        Sharing resources.

·        Leadership.

Activities

-                     4-1 Final Project: Create an eCommerce Presentation   Create a prototype for an ecommerce site based on the business plan.  Use PowerPoint to create a presentation, to describe the various parts of the eCommerce site and how it will work.  Use images, screen shots, diagrams and bullet points to describe your eBusiness Plan.  Each student will present their final project in a Web Conference.  Be sure to include ethical and security topics in your presentation.  Answer these questions:

  • Name of the eBusiness

  • Describe your vision and mission

  • What is the Product / Service?

  • Business model: How will this site make money?

  • Who are the competitors and how will your site be different?

  • Describe the technology used and its cost.

  • Outline your marketing efforts and target market.

-              4-2 Sharing Resources.  The class will find and share sites and Internet resources that are helpful in developing an eCommerce business.

-            4-3 Reading Reflection.  Select a reading based on the topics in this module, think about the value of the reading, then report back to us regarding the good and bad aspects of the reading.

            Suggested Reading:

            Hakman, Kevin.  "E-Commerce Tutorial."  Webmonkey Web Developers Resource.  April 2003.  Online URL: 
http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/e-business/building/tutorials/tutorial3.html

Bibliography

Greenspan, Robyn.  "Your Outline for Success."  E-Commerce-Guide.com - Insights - ECTips.  March 18, 2003.  Online URL: 
http://ecommerce.internet.com/news/insights/ectips/article/0,,10380_1026381,00.html

Guay, Danielle, Ettwein, Jim(1998): Internet Commerce Basics, in:Schmid, Beat F.; Selz, Dorian; Sing, Regine: EM - Electronic Transactions. EM - Electronic Markets, Vol. 8, No. 1, 05/98, http://www.electronicmarkets.org/modules/pub/view.php/electronicmarkets-200, [06/02/2003]  

Hakman, Kevin.  "E-Commerce Tutorial."  Webmonkey Web Developers Resource.  April 2003.  Online URL: 
http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/e-business/building/tutorials/tutorial3.html

Regan, Keith.  "New Rule of E-Commerce: Go Back to the Old Rules."  E-Commerce Times. August 21, 2002.  Online URL: 
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/19101.html

Smith, Alistair G.  "Testing the Surf: Criteria for Evaluating Internet Information Resources." The Public-Access Computer Systems Review, vol. 8, no. 3. 1997.  Online URL: 
http://info.lib.uh.edu/pr/v8/n3/smit8n3.html

Resource:

E-commerce Resources Provided by the Federal Government
A complicated site for beginners, but a valuable and extensive resource which
includes International trade information.   March 2003.  Online URL: 
http://www.ecommerce.gov