Assignment 6 in MIS

If I were given a chance to work as an IT (Information Technology) Consultant in the university. First, it was a big privilege or an honor for me to become a part of the IT (Information Technology) Consultant in the university because as an IT (Information Technology) student I can use my knowledge and share it in our university. This job would challenge me to explore and learn more things and experiences in the IT (Information Technology) environment. It will also help me to develop my ability int his field.

What is an IT (Information Technology) Consultant?

Information technology consulting (IT consulting, Computer consultancy, Computing consultancy, technology consulting or business and technology services) is a field that focuses on advising businesses on how best to use information technology to meet their business objectives. In addition to providing advice, IT consultancies often implement, deploy, and administer IT systems on businesses' behalf.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IT_consultant

On my own opinion an IT (Information Technology) Consultant is a person who is responsible for giving or suggesting ideas for the development of the systems and information technology.

In a university, like USeP (University of Southeastern Philippines) which has a LAN (Local Area Network) connections for the internet. The advantages of having an internet connection inside the school is to help students to explore and learn more things by surfing through the internet. It also makes the transaction easier like sending data which is accurate and fast. But, as I observed USeP (University of Southeastern Philippines) has also a problem in the internet connection, they has a low and slow internet, that's why it needs more improvement.

What is Internet?

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standardized Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP). It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private and public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope that are linked by copper wires, fiber-optic cables, wireless connections, and other technologies. The Internet carries a vast array of information resources and services, most notably the inter-linked hypertext documents of the World Wide Web (WWW) and the infrastructure to support electronic mail, in addition to popular services such as online chat, file transfer and file sharing, online gaming, and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) person-to-person communication via voice and video.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INTERNET

Internet, computer-based global information system. The Internet is composed of many interconnected computer networks. Each network may link tens, hundreds, or even thousands of computers, enabling them to share information and processing power. One of the best-known resources on the Internet is the World Wide Web, which uses the Internet to display text and multimedia content on Web pages, along with interactive features.

The Internet has made it possible for people all over the world to communicate with one another effectively and inexpensively. Unlike traditional broadcasting media, such as radio and television, the Internet does not have a centralized distribution system. Instead, an individual who has Internet access can communicate directly with anyone else on the Internet, post information for general consumption, retrieve information, use distant applications and services, or buy and sell products.

The Internet has brought new opportunities to government, business, and education. Governments use the Internet for internal communication, distribution of information, and automated tax processing. In addition to offering goods and services online to customers, businesses use the Internet to interact with other businesses. Many individuals use the Internet for communicating through electronic mail (e-mail), retrieving news, researching information, shopping, paying bills, banking, listening to music, watching movies, playing games, and even making telephone calls. Educational institutions use the Internet for research and to deliver online courses and course material to students.

Source: http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761579729/Internet.html

For me, Internet is one way of making our communication more easier. It has a big help for searching information to the other areas which we cannot reach.

Now, I have some suggestions to improve the internet connection in the university. In my observation, USeP (University of Southeastern Philippines) is dealing a problem in the internet connection, they have a low and slow connection. It takes a number of minutes to the students or users of internet inside the school before they reach the site they want to go in. As an IT (Information Technology) Consultant I would suggest to upgrade the internet connection or provide a better router which is fast and advance for the internet connection. It is better also to provide a good quality and new computer units in the school. It will minimize the problem of slow and low internet connection. I want to suggest also to have some area in the school which is WIFI Zone to have a better and easy internet access freely for the students. As I observed most of the students has their own laptops. The students can already access the internet inside the school freely.

As far as I know the university has several good programmers and database administrator which is responsible for the Information System in the school. I suggest that in their department they must have a "Discovery Team" which is responsible for the system failure of programs inside the school. They are on-call if somethings happened like interruption in the server or shutdown.

I've researched also some technology which is related to internet connection:

Internet Connection Speedometer
How fast is your internet connection?

Now you can find out how fast or slow your Internet connection is with our Internet Connection Speedometer.

You could be using your network connection at work, or at home using a dial-up modem, ISDN connection, a cable modem, or a digital subscriber line (DSL). Whatever the device or technology you're using to surf the Web, we'll tell you the speed of your Internet connection.

Source: http://us.mcafee.com/root/speedometer/default.asp

Having a good internet connection, it makes easier for the university to send data directly which is fast and accurate. So I come with some ideas to have a new and advance technology in the university.

Like in the enrollment system in USeP (University of Southeastern Philippines), it is state university which is many freshmen and new comer students want to enroll here. So, during the enrollment it needs a number of days before the enrollment process end. My suggestion is to have a new system in the registrar department which scan the application form of the students and directly present it ti the screen of the encoder. And the encoder distribute the data to the respective college department which is the student's choice by sending it through internet. If the students finished the transaction in the registrar it is easier to encode his or her subjects to be enrolled because she or he has a record which came from the registrar to his or her college department. The encoder of the college department ask only the name of the students to check his record. It is also better to have an online enrollment which the students fill-up the application form available in the website of the school. By this the students has already a record in the school. The students need to confirm his or her application form to the registrar and pass the requirements needed in order to receive his or her confirmation sheet, receipts and C.O.R which determines that she or he is already enrolled. This kind of system is minimizing the redundancy and hassle in the records of the school.


In terms of technology, I would better suggest to have a new technology in the attendance system in the school for the employees like a new Biometric Scanner.

What is Biometric Scanner?

Biometrics refers to methods for uniquely recognizing humans based upon one or more intrinsic physical or behavioral traits. In information technology, in particular, biometrics is used as a form of identity access management and access control. It is also used to identify individuals in groups that are under surveillance.

Biometric characteristics can be divided in two main classes:

* Physiological are related to the shape of the body. Examples include, but are not limited to fingerprint, face recognition, DNA, hand and palm geometry, iris recognition, which has largely replaced retina, and odor/scent.
* Behavioral are related to the behavior of a person. Examples include, but are not limited to typing rhythm, gait, and voice. Some researchers[1] have coined the term behaviometrics for this class of biometrics.

Strictly speaking, voice is also a physiological trait because every person has a different pitch, but voice recognition is mainly based on the study of the way a person speaks, commonly classified as behavioral.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biometrics

I suggest this kind of technology for such advantages like it makes the attendance of the employee accurate and fast because it needs the finger print of the employee in order to have his or her attendance. Not like in the log book it is hassle and not too accurate because some employees who is absent because of some reasons he or she call her or his co-employee to write his or her name to the log book in order to have an attendance on that day or as an excuse for being late. Unlike in the Biometric Scanner you cannot cheat or use other people to have your attendance because your presence is fully needed to use this new attendance technology.

Another suggestion is a Unified Identification (ID) System within the campus. This kind of system is combining all the Identification (ID) card inside the campus in every department like the library, virtual laboratory and a passes in order to enter the school campus. We know that Identification (ID) card is one of the important gadget of a student to the school. This new Identification (ID) card has a bar code which is validated every semester by a computerize system. By this, the school administrator lessen the burden of those students who are not validating his or her Identification (ID) card every semester. Currently, the university is validating the Identification (ID) card every semester by putting a sticker at the back of the Identification (ID) card. We can easily cheat with this kind of system because its easy to produce a copy of the validated sticker. But in a new Identification (ID) card I suggested, the student cannot easily cheat or copy the bar code because it is monitored by the school. Before entering the campus you must scan the bar code at the back of the new Identification (ID) card into the bar code scanner.

What is a Bar Code Scanner?

A bar code reader (or bar code scanner) is an electronic device for reading printed bar codes. Like a flatbed scanner, it consists of a light source, a lens and a light sensor translating optical impulses into electrical ones. Additionally, nearly all bar code readers contain decoder circuitry analyzing the bar code's image data provided by the sensor and sending the bar code's content to the scanner's output port.

Types of technology

The reader types can be distinguished as follows:

* Pen type readers

Pen type readers consist of a light source and a photodiode that are placed next to each other in the tip of a pen or wand.[1] To read a bar code, the tip of the pen moves across the bars in a steady motion. The photodiode measures the intensity of the light reflected back from the light source and generates a waveform that is used to measure the widths of the bars and spaces in the bar code. Dark bars in the bar code absorb light and white spaces reflect light so that the voltage waveform generated by the photo diode is a representation of the bar and space pattern in the bar code. This waveform is decoded by the scanner in a manner similar to the way Morse code dots and dashes are decoded.

* Laser scanners

Laser scanners work the same way as pen type readers except that they use a laser beam as the light source and typically employ either a reciprocating mirror or a rotating prism to scan the laser beam back and forth across the bar code. As with the pen type reader, a photodiode is used to measure the intensity of the light reflected back from the bar code. In both pen readers and laser scanners, the light emitted by the reader is tuned to a specific frequency and the photodiode is designed to detect only this modulated light of the same frequency.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_code_scanner

It is a big help also to the security guard because this system lessen their work in checking the students if her or his Identification (ID) card is valid. They only watch and making sure that the students and other school property inside the campus are secured.