Syllabus: Concepts of Management Computing
Syllabus: Concepts of Management Computing
PURPOSE
The primary objective of this syllabus is to provide students with sufficient conceptual understanding to be
able to communicate with IT professionals in a meaningful way. As much the material lays somewhat
midway between that of a traditional introductory course in pure Information Technology and course in
Communication. In terms of the ability to communicate professionally it provides the basic vocabulary in
IT terminology. In terms of IT itself it provides an introduction to the fundamentals of the technology.
The secondary objective is to develop the ability to make judgements. Students should always ask
themselves questions such as “How can this knowledge be used?”The level of judgement corresponds to
the fact that this is an entry-level course. For example, given a simple office scenario, students should be
able to select the most appropriate printer for a specific type of task.
It should also be noted that it is intended to be a conceptual (theory) course. It is assumed that students
obtain practical experience on computers elsewhere.
RECOMMENDED TEXTBOOK
SYLLABUS
1 INTRODUCTION (5%)
1
Output
Processing Control
Storage
1.6 Trends in white collar work Skills of the information age
- The ability to learn new skills
- Flexibility and adaptability
- Acceptance of the reality of life long
learning
Change from labour to capital intensive activity
Dot coms and their future and their effects
Role of enterprise software
Outsourcing and the effect on employment trends and
skills needs
B2B commerce
Time compression
The African context
2
DVDs
4. DATABASES (20%)
3
4.3 Database concepts Tables / files
Records
Fields
Field types:
- Text
- Date
- Numeric
- Boolean
Range constraints
Record access
- Sequential access
- Random access
- Indexed sequential
4.4 Relational databases Relations
- One-to-one
- One-to-many
- Many-to-one
- Many-to-many
Normalisation
4.5 Database design issues Redundancy
Integrity
Verification
Format constraints
Unique keys, foreign keys
4.6 Other types of database Flat
Hierarchical
Network
4.7 Large database systems DBMS
Data dictionary
DDL
DML
SQL
Archiving
4.8 Personnel DBA
Systems analysts
Programmers
Operators
End-users
4.9 Security issues Access control
Authorisation
Passwords
Access rights
User views
Audit trails
Encryption
5. NETWORKS (15%)
4
- Analogue
- Digital
- Modems
Data transfer rate
Protocols
- TCP/IP
- IPX/SPX
- NetBUI
5.2 Communication channels Channel media
- Copper wire: Co-ax and UTP
- Fibre optic
- Radio
- Micro-ware
- Infra-red
Telephone links
- Analogue dial-up
- ISDN
- Leased analogue
- Diginet
Data transfer rate
Very high speed connections
5.3 Types of networks LAN
MAN
WAN
Internet
5.4 Network topologies Bus
Star
Ring
5.5 Servers File servers
Application servers
Print servers
Communication servers
- IP sharers
SQL servers
5.6 Network operating systems Novell
Windows NT / 2000
Unix / Linux
5.7 Communications between networks IP addresses
Subnet mask
Computer and network number
IP packets
Broadcasts
Routers
5
- Logic bombs
- Trojan horses
Anti-virus software
What anti-virus software can do
Legal issues
6.3 Computer crime Theft
Piracy
Fraud
- Data diddling
- Salami slicing
- CHP
Hacking
Data theft
Misuse of information
6.4 Physical dangers Natural disasters
Political and criminal activity
System problems
- Component failure
Power supply problems
- Blackouts
- Brownouts
- Surges
6.5 Protecting systems Physical security
Software security
Backups
The use of a UPS
6
- The shopping trolley
- CNP transactions
- PSPs
Security issues
- Interception of personal data
- Misuse of personal data
- Digital certificates
- Encryption and SSL communication
E-commerce software
The use of WAP technology
B2B transaction
7.6 E-mail E-mail
E-mail clients
Attachments ing:
• Multiple choice with five options, one of which must be selected.
• Multiple choice with five options, two of which must be selected.
• Questions with a single word, phrase of sentence as an answer.
• True / false questions.
• Supply missing word or phrase in a statement.
Some of the questions will require that students make judgements. In other words the examination is not
limited to the simple recall of facts. Students are required to be able to make use of the facts.
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