ITED100 - Information Technology in Action

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Nil

Incompatible

ITEC100 Information Technology in Action , BUSD111 Working with Technology , BUSN111 Working with Technology

Unit rationale, description and aim

Technological advances over the past decades have fundamentally changed the nature of work and communications. As technology continues to evolve at an ever-increasing pace, all employees need an appreciation of how technology impacts various aspects of their lives.

In this unit, students will obtain a general understanding of Information Technology (IT) components, and emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), Extended Reality (XR), etc. that are having a significant impact on our work and life. Students will explore different applications of emerging technologies, and critically discuss ethics in IT, and technology's broader impact on the stewardship of creation e.g. considering sustainability and the environment.

In addition to the foundational knowledge of IT, this unit will also develop students’ applied skills in using Microsoft Office applications and digital productivity tools which enables them to be a powerful contributor in many career fields. Microsoft’s Excel Associate curriculum has been embedded in this unit, and as part of the assessments, students are provided the opportunity to gain industry certification by completing the Microsoft Excel Associate exam which is recognised and validated by employers’ community.

The aim of this unit is to enhance students' ICT (information and Communication Technology) literacy and knowledge of emerging technologies and their impact on the individuals, organisations, society, and the environment, highlighting both positive and negative impacts of technology on stewardship of creation, and to develop students’ skills in using IT to contribute positively to the effective operation of the workplace.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Describe how emerging information and related internet and web technologies facilitate collaboration, communication, and commerce (GA5, GA8)

LO2 - Discuss how emerging technologies create digital disruptions impacting on individuals, organisations, society, and the environment (GA2, GA5)

LO3 - Explain how businesses use data analysis techniques to derive intelligence to make business decisions facilitating new intellectual ethical debates (GA3, GA5)

LO4 - Distinguish threats to digital security and data privacy and various ways to protect your digital property and data from theft and corruption (GA4, GA5)

LO5 - Apply MS Office applications for data manipulation/analysis, and tools for online communications, and productivity enhancement (GA5, GA10)

Graduate attributes

GA2 - recognise their responsibility to the common good, the environment and society 

GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA10 - utilise information and communication and other relevant technologies effectively

Content

Topics will include:

• Understanding IT components
• Emerging Technologies (e.g. AI, IoT, Blockchain, …)
• Digital disruption
• Cybersecurity, data privacy
• Digital information and digital property
• Ethical Computing
• Green IT
• Collaborating and working on the web
• Social and environmental impact of technology
• Office applications (Microsoft Office)
• Digital communication and productivity applications

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit takes an active learning approach to guide students in not only the practical use of technology but also how to analyse and synthesise the various impacts of emerging technologies on peoples work and life. Students will be introduced to the knowledge base and skills through online learning materials and a series of workshops and computer lab tutorials (PC labs).

The workshops are designed to support students to actively participate in the construction and synthesis of the required knowledge both individually and in groups. By participating in these workshops, students will develop their understanding of the IT and emerging digital technologies and the critical aspects of ethical and environmental issues in IT, and how technology is making an impact on organisations and society.

The PC labs provide expert instructions for students to develop practical skills in MS Office tools to solve business problems and obtain the Microsoft Excel Associate Certificate that is embedded in the unit.

Mode of delivery: This unit is offered mainly in ‘Attendance mode’ with aspects of ‘Multi-mode’ incorporated into the delivery to maximise the learning support offered to students. Students will be required to attend face-to-face workshops in specific physical location/s (including supervised lab practical sessions) and have face-to-face interactions with teaching staff to further their achievement of the learning outcomes. This unit is also structured with some required upfront preparation before workshops – learning materials and tasks set via online learning platforms. This will provide multiple forms of preparatory and practice opportunities for students to prepare and revise.

Further to this, to ensure students are ready to transition from the Diploma and articulate into the second year of undergraduate study, transition pedagogies will be incorporated into the unit as the key point of differentiation from the standard unit. This focuses on an active and engaging approach to learning and teaching practices, and a scaffolded approach to the delivery of curriculum to enhance student learning in a supportive environment. This will ensure that students develop foundation level discipline-based knowledge, skills and attributes, and simultaneously the academic competencies required of students to succeed in this unit.

Assessment strategy and rationale

To pass this unit, students are required achieve an aggregate mark of at least 50%. Marking will be in accordance with a rubric specifically developed to measure students’ level of achievement of the learning outcomes for each item of assessment. Students will also be awarded a final grade which signifies their overall achievement in the unit.

A range of assessment procedures will be used to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes consistent with university assessment requirements.

• The first assessment is an online quiz to evaluate students’ knowledge of essential concepts in IT and emerging technologies.
• The second assessment item allows students to demonstrate knowledge and skills in using MS Excel through the official Microsoft Excel Associate Certification exam. This certification exam is included in this unit to enhance students’ employability skills by providing students the opportunity to demonstrate a proven competency at an industry associate-level and being ready to enter the job market.
• The final assessment item encourages students to actively engage and participate in a range of activities. It allows students to demonstrate their critical thinking skills, evaluative judgment skills (through peer review activities) and knowledge of emerging technologies.

Strategies aligned with transition pedagogies will be utilised to facilitate successful completion of the unit assessment tasks. For each assessment, there will be the incorporation of developmentally staged tasks with a focus on a progressive approach to learning. This will be achieved through activities, including regular feedback, particularly early in the unit of study to support their learning; strategies to develop and understand discipline-specific concepts and terminology; in-class practice tasks with integrated feedback; and greater peer-to-peer collaboration.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Required text

Evans, A, Martin, K & Poatsy, MA 2021, Technology in Action Complete, Global edition, 16th edn, Pearson Education. 

Reference texts

Dwyer, J 2019, Communication for Business and the Professions: Strategies and Skills, 7th edn, Pearson, Melbourne.

Kumar, P, Tomar, A & Sharmila, R (eds) 2022, Emerging Technologies in Computing: Theory, practice and Advances, CRC Press.

Reynolds, G 2019, Ethics in Information Technology, 6th edn, Cengage Learning, Boston.

Stair, R.M., Reynolds, G.W. Bryant, J., Frydenberg, M, Greenberg, H., Schell, G., 2021, Principles of Information Systems, 4th edn, Cengage Learning, Boston.