Written Assessment (30%)
General Information
The purpose of this assignment is to select and discuss relevant online resources that exemplify the application of the topic(s) nominated each week (1 - 10). This assignment can (and should!) be completed progressively (i.e. each week). There are ten (10) tasks, one for each week: these are detailed below and in the template.
The assignment is marked out of 30 and forms 30% of your total course marks.
Note that late penalties apply (5% of the total available marks per calendar day late or part thereof). Assignments received 14 days or more after the due date will not be marked and will receive zero. Students may apply for extensions but must provide documentary evidence to support their request (for example, a medical certificate). Short extensions of one to two days may be considered if students include their nearly completed assignment (i.e. one or two tasks to yet be completed) in their extension request.
It will be necessary for students to use online resources to complete this assignment, so please ensure you cite and reference any such materials using the Harvard format. Plagiarism detection will be used in this assessment.
It is VERY important that you do not copy content directly from either the text or Internet resources: this assignment is to be in your own words. You will lose marks if you do not use your own words! Suspected plagiarism will result in the instigation of the student misconduct process.
What do I need to do?
Download the template [TO BE PROVIDED]. There are ten (10) tasks, one for each week: the tasks are detailed below (and in the template file).
Each task requires you to collect and summarise one (1) publicly available online resource. The resource summary should be around 200-300 words. You should collect interesting and relevant resources that address the task. The resources should be easy to read and describe the topic/technology concisely and simply. The resources must be specific to the topic (i.e. just focus on a single technology or topic and not be about multiple topics). These can include (but are not limited to) online magazine/news articles, technical reports or documentation.
Important - Academic resources such as journals, conference papers or books will generally be unsuitable for this assignment as they are generally not publicly available, are not concise, are not necessarily easy to read and often don’t focus specifically on the assignment topic(s). The resources should be substantial (producing a 300 word summary from a 400 - 500 word resource is inappropriate) and only contain information directly pertinent to the task. You cannot use the resource more than once in the assignment. The textbook and sites such as, but not limited to, Wikipedia, Techtarget, and HowStuffWorks are not suitable resources.
Your summary should briefly explain:
- What the resource is about
- Why you selected it
- What are the main points or key information covered in the resource
- Why the resource was useful.
For each task, there is a table to complete in the template. Please fill in the information required and submit the document via this page by the due date.
Week Task
1 The text discusses conventional binary computing architecture. However, an emerging field of research focuses on the development of quantum computers. Find and summarise a resource that explains why there is so much interest in this type of computing (for example, the potential applications).
2 The text briefly makes mention of the Linux operating system, an open-source Unix variant developed in the 1990s. There are many popular Linux distributions (look up “Linux Distribution” if you don’t know what that means). Find and summarise a resource that describes the features and advantages of ONE of these distributions.
3 The text discusses the concept of virtualisation. There are several “type 2” or hosted virtualisation products (software) on the market (both commercial and open source). Find and summarise a resource that describes the features and advantages of ONE of these products.
4 TCP and UDP are examples of two Layer Four (L4) transport protocols that are discussed in the text. Find and summarise a resource that describes the features and uses of ONE other L4 protocol that is not discussed in the text (i.e. NOT UDP or TCP).
5 Cyber-attacks on governments or government assets are receiving increasing publicity and media attention. Find and summarise a resource that describes ONE recent cyber-attack (within the last 3 years) against a government website or asset.
6 Flood, fires and earthquakes are events beyond our control, yet impact heavily on ICT infrastructure. Find and summarise a resource that describes ONE example of an organisation’s ICT infrastructure being impacted by such an event and the resulting effects on the business and/or its operations. For example, you might want to search for “data centre fire” or “network cable earthquake” to find suitable resources.
7 The text briefly mentions crowdsourcing which is a form of social business that organisations employ to engage with the public to achieve a goal. Find and summarise a resource that describes ONE example of an organisation using crowdsourcing and the outcomes of the engagement.
8 With the advent of mass data collection and storage has come a surge of instances of data theft. Find and summarise a resource that describes ONE example where data has been stolen from a private company or corporation and explain the impacts on the customers.
9 The failure to adapt business processes and embrace technology, particularly ICT, has led to the downfall of many previously successful companies. Find and summarise a resource that describes ONE example of an organisation that failed to adapt to changes in technology and explain what the organisation failed to do/respond to.
10 Large, complex ICT projects are more likely to fail than succeed. Find and summarise a resource that describes ONE example of a large ICT project that failed and explain the impacts of the failure.
Hints
Hint 1: Do a bit every week
This assignment is not onerous, especially if you complete each weekly section as you complete each week of the course – that means writing around 300 words per week. However, it will be much harder if you try to complete all ten sections in week eleven!
Hint 2: Choose interesting and relevant resources
You will be assessed on the relevance of resources. Choose specialised, specific resources that helped you gain a deeper understanding of the topic area. Do not use generic web pages from sites like (but not limited to) Wikipedia, Techtarget and “How-Stuff-Works”. Web sites like these list and define topics and technologies and they are not appropriate. Slide-shows or PowerPoint presentations are also unsuitable. Make sure the resource can be linked to/accessed directly – i.e. it is a public resource on the web. Links/permalinks to CQU Library online resources such as journal papers, conference papers and textbooks are not suitable as they are not publicly accessible resources.
Hint 3: Look at [LINK] these examples. Note the reasons why the excellent response gets the marks. Pay special attention to why the second example would result in an academic misconduct case and the potential for you for fail the assignment or the unit!!!
Hint 4: Ask!
If something in this assignment description is unclear, or you are just not 100% sure about something, please ask for help. Your teaching team really do not mind if you ask us to clarify something. We do mind when we have to fail you because you haven't submitted what was asked or met the assignment requirements sad
What do I need to submit?
You are required to submit a single document in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx). Use the template [TO BE PROVIDED]as the basis for your submission. Apart from providing your response to the weekly tasks, do not modify the document - especially do not delete the marking sheet.
Marking Criteria
A detailed tabular marking criteria is provided as part of your submission template - please ensure you read it before attempting the assignment. You will be assessed on the relevance of the resources you select as well as the clarity and detail of your discussions.

COIT 20246 ASSIGNMENT SUBMISSION
Due date: Thursday Week 11 (2PM AEST)
Part: Written Assessment
Weighting: 30% of total assessment.
Submission: Electronic (see course website for details)
Instructions
It will be necessary to use literature/online resources to complete this assignment, please ensure you cite and reference any such materials using the Harvard format.
DO NOT copy content directly from either the text or Internet resources: this assignment is to be in your own words. You will lose marks if you do not use your own words!
Please complete your assignment using this submission template file, inserting your responses where indicated.
DO NOT delete the marking criteria page – changes are permitted to the formatting of other pages including the headers and footers.
Please fill in the following details:
Student Name
Student Number
Tasks
There are ten (10) tasks, one for each week: the tasks are detailed below. There is a table to complete for each task. Please fill in the information required.
Note: Each resource summary should be around 200-300 words.
Week 1
The text discusses conventional binary computing architecture. However, an emerging field of research focuses on the development of quantum computers. Find and summarise a resource that explains why there is so much interest in this type of computing (for example, the potential applications).
Title and Reference:
Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here. This should include the URL of the resource
Summary:
Provide a summary of around 200-300 words discussing what the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here
Week 2
The text briefly makes mention of the Linux operating system, an open-source Unix variant developed in the 1990s. There are many popular Linux distributions (look up “Linux Distribution” if you don’t know what that means). Find and summarise a resource that describes the features and advantages of ONE of these distributions.
Title and Reference:
Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here. This should include the URL of the resource
Summary:
Provide a summary of around 200-300 words discussing what the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here

Week 3
The text discusses the concept of virtualisation. There are several “type 2” or hosted virtualisation products (software) on the market (both commercial and open source). Find and summarise a resource that describes the features and advantages of ONE of these products.
Title and Reference:
Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here. This should include the URL of the resource
Summary:
Provide a summary of around 200-300 words discussing what the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here
Week 4
TCP and UDP are examples of two Layer Four (L4) transport protocols that are discussed in the text. Find and summarise a resource that describes the features and uses of ONE other L4 protocol that is not discussed in the text (i.e. NOT UDP or TCP).
Title and Reference:
Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here. This should include the URL of the resource
Summary:
Provide a summary of around 200-300 words discussing what the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here
Week 5
Cyber-attacks on governments or government assets are receiving increasing publicity and media attention. Find and summarise a resource that describes ONE recent cyber-attack (within the last 3 years) against a government website or asset.
Title and Reference:
Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here. This should include the URL of the resource
Summary:
Provide a summary of around 200-300 words discussing what the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here

Week 6
Flood, fires and earthquakes are events beyond our control, yet impact heavily on ICT infrastructure. Find and summarise a resource that describes ONE example of an organisation’s ICT infrastructure being impacted by such an event and the resulting effects on the business and/or its operations. For example, you might want to search for “data centre fire” or “network cable earthquake” to find suitable resources.
Title and Reference:
Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here. This should include the URL of the resource
Summary:
Provide a summary of around 200-300 words discussing what the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here
Week 7
The text briefly mentions crowdsourcing which is a form of social business that organisations employ to engage with the public to achieve a goal. Find and summarise a resource that describes ONE example of an organisation using crowdsourcing and the outcomes of the engagement.
Title and Reference:
Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here. This should include the URL of the resource
Summary:
Provide a summary of around 200-300 words discussing what the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here
Week 8
With the advent of mass data collection and storage has come a surge of instances of data theft. Find and summarise a resource that describes ONE example where data has been stolen from a private company or corporation and explain the impacts on the customers.
Title and Reference:
Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here. This should include the URL of the resource
Summary:
Provide a summary of around 200-300 words discussing what the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here

Week 9
The failure to adapt business processes and embrace technology, particularly ICT, has led to the downfall of many previously successful companies. Find and summarise a resource that describes ONE example of an organisation that failed to adapt to changes in technology and explain what the organisation failed to do/respond to.
Title and Reference:
Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here. This should include the URL of the resource
Summary:
Provide a summary of around 200-300 words discussing what the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here
Week 10
Large, complex ICT projects are more likely to fail than succeed. Find and summarise a resource that describes ONE example of a large ICT project that failed and explain the impacts of the failure.
Title and Reference:
Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here. This should include the URL of the resource
Summary:
Provide a summary of around 200-300 words discussing what the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here

MARKING SHEET - DO NOT DELETE
Criteria 0 No Response
=1 Poor resource selection; resource is too broad or lacks relevance to the task; summary fails to explain what the resource was about; the relevance and/or usefulness of the resource has not been explained.
=2 Good resource selection; resource is relevant to the task; summary is adequate but may require either more detail or is too long; the relevance and/or usefulness of the resource has been explained to some extent, but needs additional information.
=3 Excellent resource selection; resource is highly relevant to the task (the resource is probably highly specialised); summary is detailed yet concise; the relevance and usefulness of the resource selection has been clearly explained.
Key
Deductions -3
-2
-1 Reference/URL provided does not link to resource (and resource cannot be located or determined from details provided) OR
Reference/URL provided does not relate to the summary (i.e. summary is not of resource content / contains content not contained in the resource)
Resource is generic AND/OR covers multiple technologies/examples rather than focuses on a single technology/example
Resource not referenced correctly/not in Harvard format
Week Marks Awarded
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
TOTAL
Comments: