INFO2242 Business Office Collaboration Technology Collaboration Project 1: Researching Collaboration Tools Weeks 1 5 (100 points) Three Person Group Student Expectations: Working on group projects requires each team member to prioritize and manage his/her time to be able to participate in a timely manner and to complete his/her individual tasks for all weekly requirements to be completed by the due date. You will notice the tasks below include group discussions and sharing of information for you and your partner to complete the tasks by the due date. You cannot begin your task the day the task is due and expect your partner to be able to complete his/her task. Each team member must review the weekly task requirements the first day of the week and complete his/her tasks prior to the due date for your team to successfully complete this collaborative project. When working in groups, you should first communicate with your team member regarding any issues that may prevent your group from completing the weekly task by the due date. If you are not receiving a response from your team member within a reasonable time frame, then contact the instructor. A team member not participating as expected during the week will receive 0 points for the week s task. At the end of the project, each team member will submit an ITA (Individual Team Assessment) to the instructor evaluating your team member. Background: As office professionals in a small insurance agency in Omaha, you have been asked how the company could use the following technology for sharing information with field agents and also with the corporate (home) office. Web conferencing (such as GotoMeeting, Webex, Anymeeting, etc.) Mobile and tablet devices Virtual office assistant Cloud-based filing sharing (such as DropBox, Box, Google Docs, OneDrive, idrive, etc.) Document security issues with file sharing When to save documents using the PDF file format, and advantages and disadvantages of PDF files. The home office is located in Kansas City; this office develops the insurance products sold by your agents. Your office provides reports to the home office regarding sales and each field agent s performance. Currently, you drive to Kansas City for monthly staff meetings. You also communicate with various corporate staff members via email and the telephone as they develop the insurance products. The six field agents employed by your agency primarily work out of their home and travel to customers in Nebraska and Iowa selling the insurance products developed by the home office. Your office staff provides insurance product updates and training for the field agents via email and telephone. You are also considering employing an office professional as a virtual office assistant to provide office support for the field agents who travel in Iowa. The virtual office assistant will perform the same duties as the Omaha office assistant: assist the field agents responding to customer inquiries about their insurance INFO2242 Project 1 Page 1 of 6
policies and their account (the agents will forward phone or email messages to the assistant to respond to the customer s inquiry), prepare mailings including personalized letters and marketing materials to be sent to potential customers in the agent s assigned sales area, and prepare weekly and monthly reports regarding each sales agent s performance and email the reports to the agents and corporate office. Problem Statement: The issue to be resolved is to (1) determine the technology tools the insurance agency could implement to be more efficient in providing information to insurance field agents and the corporate office, (2) make recommendations for the owner to consider, and (3) educate the owner on potential security issues regarding file sharing. You and your partner will each research two of the following technology topics: Web conferencing Mobile and tablet devices Virtual office assistants Cloud-based filing sharing Document security issues with file sharing When to save documents using the PDF file format, and advantages and disadvantages of PDF files. Each partner will create a Word report documenting the research information. The Word report will be submitted in a SharePoint Document Library to share the information with your partner. Administrative Assistants or Office Professionals often create presentations based on information provided by another person. Using your partner s Word report, create PowerPoint slides based on the research information. The individual slides will then be included in a combined PowerPoint presentation in a shared file in the SharePoint Document Library. Discuss with your partner the technology tools you recommend, associated costs, and associated pros and cons, and include your recommendations in the final combined PowerPoint presentation. Task 1: To be completed by the end of Week 1 (25 points) Outcome: Decide on the two topics each team member will research and email the information to the instructor. 1. Determine which two topics you want to research from the following list: Web conferencing Mobile and tablet devices Virtual office assistants Cloud-based filing sharing Document security issues with file sharing When to save documents using the PDF file format, and advantages and disadvantages of PDF files. 2. Log in to the course INFO2242 SharePoint site INFO2242 Project 1 Page 2 of 6
3. Select the Group Project 1: Research sub-site. 4. Select the Team Discussions link. o o If you are the first person in your group to access the Team Discussion forum, you will need to add a new discussion to the Team Discussion forum: (1) select Add new discussion, (2) in Subject type Project 1, Task 1 lastname_lastname_lastname (do not include the quotation marks and replace each lastname with the last name for you and your partner), (3) include a brief message in the Body and list the two topics you want to research, and (4) Save. Each team member will post a reply to the original discussion stating the two topics he/she wants to research. Continue your discussion until you agree on the two topics each partner will research and one of you needs to volunteer to email the information to the instructor. 5. Using MCC student email, one team member will email the instructor and copy the other students indicating the topics to be researched by each student. Use the following as the subject line for the email: INFO2242 Project 1 Research Topics. The email is due by the end of week 1. Task 2: To be completed Weeks 2 & 3 (25 points) Outcome: Each student completes Internet research on the two topics, documents the information in two Word reports, and uploads the Word documents to the Shared Document Library in the Project 1 sub-site in SharePoint. 1. Conduct research using the Internet: a. Find at least two sources for each topic. b. Find at least one image for each topic. c. Cite your sources using the MLA style. You can use Noodle Tools Express or another online citation tool to create your source citations. 2. Document your research findings in two separate Word documents (one document for each topic researched) in report style following the requirements below. Each document should be one to three pages in length. a. Content requirements: i. Definition or description of the technology tool/issue ii. A comparison of two potential software tools if researching software applications or a listing of pros and cons if researching security issues or PDF documents. iii. Associated costs, if applicable. For example, what would it cost to use Dropbox for sharing files? iv. Image related to the topic. b. Formatting requirements: i. Use a section heading for each topic. ii. Use complete sentences and paragraphs with no spelling or grammar errors. iii. Each topic should be one to two pages in length summarizing the research information. Note: your partner will use your information to create PowerPoint slides; be sure to provide detailed information because your partner will not complete additional research on the topic INFO2242 Project 1 Page 3 of 6
iv. Include one bullet or number list and a table to present some of the information for each topic. v. Use double-line spacing and normal margins (1 ) for the entire document. vi. Insert your image(s) for each topic within the section for the topic. vii. Include your name and automatic page numbering in the footer of the document. viii. Include a Works Cited page for your sources as the last page of the document. Use the MLA style to format your sources. ix. Save your completed Word document using the filename lastname_topic_project1.docx (replace lastname with your last name and topic with the topic name; for example Connor_WebConferencing_Project1.docx). 3. Log in to the course INFO2242 SharePoint site 4. Select the Group Project 1: Research sub-site to upload your two Word documents. This is due by the end of Week 3. a. Select the Shared Documents link under Libraries. b. Add your Word documents to the Shared Document s library (be sure your lastname and the topic name is included in the filename of your documents). You will select Add document, browse to find you document, and click OK. Your document will be included in the Shared Documents Library. c. Each team member will add his/her Word documents to the Shared Document Library. d. Each student will submit his/her Word documents to the Week 3 assignment drop-box in Blackboard for grading. Task 3: To be completed Week 4 (25 points) Outcome: Each student uses other team members Word reports to create PowerPoint slides and uploads the PowerPoint file to the Shared Documents Library in the Project 1 sub-site in SharePoint. 1. In the Week 4 folder in Blackboard, check the team member assignments to determine which team member s Word reports you will use to create your PowerPoint presentation: a) Team Member 1 will use the Word reports created by Team Member 2 b) Team Member 2 will use the Word reports created by Team Member 3 c) Team Member 3 will use the Word reports created by Team Member 1 2. Log in to the course INFO2242 SharePoint site 3. Select the Group Project 1: Research sub-site. 4. Select Shared Documents Library. 5. Download your assigned team member s Word research reports. 6. Using your assigned team member s reports, create one PowerPoint presentation summarizing the research information following the requirements below: a) For each topic, include two to four slides summarizing the information. b) Include the images from your partner s report. c) Include at least one table or chart. INFO2242 Project 1 Page 4 of 6
d) Include SmartArt, bullets, and a variety of slide layouts as appropriate. e) Type your last name in the footer for each slide you create and a slide number in the footer for each slide. f) Add slide transitions to all slides. Animation is optional. g) Save your PowerPoint presentation using the filename lastname_project1presentation (replace lastname with your last name). 7. Log in to the course INFO2242 SharePoint site 8. Select the Group Project 1: Research sub-site to upload your PowerPoint document. This is due by the end of Week 4. a) Select the Libraries link and then Shared Document Library. b) Add your PowerPoint presentation to the Shared Document Library (be sure your lastname is included in the filename). c) Each student will submit his/her PowerPoint file to the Week 4 assignment drop-box in Blackboard for grading. Task 4: To be completed Week 5 (25 points) Outcome: Using the group s discussion forum in SharePoint, discuss and agree upon the recommendations to resolve the insurance agency s problem. Using each student s PowerPoint slides, create a combined final presentation including the recommendations. Upload the combined presentation to SharePoint and to Blackboard. 1. Each student reviews all of the research information provided in the Word documents and PowerPoint presentation files in the Shared Document Library and determine his/her recommendations to resolve the insurance agency s problems/issues. 2. Log in to the course INFO2242 SharePoint site 3. Select the Group Project 1: Research sub-site. 4. Select the Team Discussions link and post a reply to your team s original discussion forum listing your recommendations. 5. Continue with discussion until you and your partners agree on the recommendations. a) Team Member 1 will download each team member s PowerPoint presentation file from the Shared Document Library and combine the three presentations into one presentation. This task can be completed as your team discusses their recommendations in the discussion forum. b) Copy the slides from each presentation into a new presentation. c) Add a design theme to the presentation. d) Filename lastname_lastname_lastname_combinedpresentation_project1 (replace each lastname with the names of each team member). e) Add the combined PowerPoint file to the Shared Document Library in the Project 1 subsite in SharePoint. INFO2242 Project 1 Page 5 of 6
f) Email your team members notifying them when the combined PowerPoint file has been added to the Project 1 Shared Document Library in SharePoint. 6. Team Member 2 will create new PowerPoint presentation. This task is dependent on the team completing their discussion, but can be worked on at the same time Team Member 1 is completing step 5 above. a) Include two to four slides documenting the team s recommendations based on the team s discussion. b) Add transitions or animation as desired. c) Filename lastname_lastname_lastname_recommendations_project1 (replace each lastname with the names of each team member). d) Add the Recommendations PowerPoint file to the Shared Document Library in the Project 1 sub-site in SharePoint. e) Email your team members notifying them when the combined PowerPoint file has been added to the Project 1 Shared Document Library in SharePoint. 7. Team Member 3 will download the team s Combined PowerPoint presentation AND the team s Recommendations PowerPoint file from the Shared Document library in Project 1 to complete the following: a) Copy the Recommendation slides to the end of the Combined PowerPoint presentation. Be sure the same design theme and formatting is applied to all slides. b) Save the file using the Filename lastname_lastname_lastname_finalppt_project1 (replace each lastname with the names of each team member). c) Add the Final PowerPoint file to the Shared Document Library in the Project 1 sub-site in SharePoint for all team members to view the final presentation. d) Submits the final presentation to the Week 5 assignment drop-box in Blackboard for grading. To be completed by the end of Week 5 in both SharePoint and Blackboard. 8. Each student will submit an ITA (Individual Team Assessment) in Blackboard. The ITA is found in the Week 5 folder in Blackboard. If a student does not submit his/her ITA, the student receives 0 points for Task 4 of the project. -End of Project 1- INFO2242 Project 1 Page 6 of 6