Required reading
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	Textbook	Laudon & Laudon 1995 Ch. 5
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Overview

Again you have the whole of one chapter to do. The multimedia technology is exciting. We have students in Information Systems who design and develop multimedia applications as part of their course. I teach a unit in which this is done: 25338 Human-computer Interaction. It is a great unit to teach and the students appear to enjoy it also. We have demonstrations of their project work at the end of each semester. The students choose what they will do for their projects. This year we have had a Guide to Fishes, several Encyclopedias of Music, several Video Browsers for video hire stores, a learning English as a foreign language package, packages helping people to pass Learner Driver tests, and so on. As you know, your textbook is also available in CD-ROM form, which is an example of multimedia. As far as I know, 1996 is the first year a textbook will be offered in multimedia form at our university.

It is possible that innovative adoption of input and output technology is a strategy that organisations can use in their efforts to gain competitive advantage. Refer back to the McKesson case study on pages 105-107 and see how bar code readers were used. Chapter 14 also describes how 'imaging' (for document handling) is used by organisations to reduce paper flows and make document handling more efficient and effective.

Learning styles

This section may seem a little out of place in a unit about information systems. Remember, however, that one of the aims of this unit is to encourage people to develop lifelong learning skills. One aspect of this development is the recognition by students of the ways in which they learn themselves.

We do not have sufficient time in this unit to explore the topic of learning styles in great depth. There has been a great deal of research work in this area and many different ways of categorising learning styles have been proposed. There are also a number of criticisms of the learning style approach. It has been said that effective teachers should use a variety of presentations to help all individuals see the material from a variety of perspectives. Also, that effective learning is the result of a number of variables such as level of prior knowledge and ability. In addition, most students are adaptable to a variety of instructional modes, even if they are not preferred (McInerney & McInerney, 1994).

We aim, however, to introduce you to the topic of learning styles and to encourage you to think about the way you learn and the way you process information yourself. In this way you might be able to think more about which of the resources we provide will be most useful to you. In addition, if you consider that there is some aspect of your learning that is deficient in some way, you might be able to concentrate on improving it, or paying special attention when you have to learn in that way.

A definition of learning styles from McInerney and McInerney (1994, p.498) is:

Learning styles may be considered as characteristic cognitive, affective and physiological behaviours that serve as relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, interact, and respond to the learning environment. They are demonstrated in that pattern of behaviour and performance by which individuals approach educational experiences.

Table 3-1 shows the sixteen elements of learning style listed by these authors.

Table 3-1: Sixteen elements of learning style

The environmental elements

1. sound
2. light
3. temperature
4. design.

   The emotional elements

5. motivation
6. persistence
7. responsibility
8. need for structure.

   The sociological elements

9. working alone
10. working with peers
11. working with an adult (if a child learner)
12. working in combination.

    The physical elements

13. perceptual strengths
14. intake
15. time of day
16. need for mobility.

Thinking about your own preferences may help you to develop more effective study habits. Do you study better in the morning or at night? Do you prefer to study with other people? If so, and you are an off-campus student, you might think about forming, or joining, a study group. Doing this in first year could help you throughout the rest of your course. DDCE should send you a list of people in your area. Alternatively, you might be able to contact other students through electronic mail, or the electronic bulletin boards.

A related concept to that of learning styles is cognitive style.

While learning style generally refers to that vast range of internal and external factors that may influence our learning and motivation in a given situation, cognitive style more specifically refers to the stable perceptual and thinking processes by which individuals within a culture comprehend their world, conceptualise meanings, learn a task, solve a problem and relate to others. (McInerney & McInerney 1994, p. 502)

In the exercises for this module, you are given an inventory (questionnaire) that will help you think about your own cognitive style. This inventory has been kindly supplied by Doug Wyer of the Faculty of Education at CQU. It is adapted from the "Hill Cognitive Style Inventory".

Joseph Hill and his associates at Oakland Community College in Michigan, USA developed the inventory. Hill's inventory has been used elsewhere to try to give students learning experiences that match their style, and to help students become more independent in their learning.

It is thought that if students have their cognitive style evaluated (mapped), and explained to them, they can take greater charge of their own skill development. An evaluation of one program that operated like this showed that students felt their cognitive maps had given them helpful information on how they learned, many had changed the way they studied, and they expected to select parts of their courses on the basis of their mapping experience (Claxton & Murrell, 1987).

At Oakland College the aim was to have five learning modes available from which students could choose when enrolling in their courses: lecture, individualised program learning, videotapes, audiotapes, and small group seminars with peer tutoring. In this unit, there are a number of resources available, limited perhaps by your geographic location and time slots available for study. Do the inventory and think about what you can do to enhance your own study!

Review questions

REVIEW QUESTION 3-1	Textbook	Laudon & Laudon 1995 p. 174, Discussion questions 1, 2.
REVIEW QUESTION 3-2	Textbook	Laudon & Laudon 1995 p. 175-177, Multimedia Kiosk case study, Questions 1 to 5.
REVIEW QUESTION 3-3	Following is the inventory with instruction on how to complete it and do your own cognitive mapping. Some discussion on interpreting the mapping follows.

Quiz

Mark the correct answer.

QUESTION 1

Raw density of magnetic tape is measured in:
(a) megabytes
(b) megaflops
(c) bytes per inch
(d) bytes
(e) bits per second.

QUESTION 2

Which of the following is a type of optical disk?
(a) RAM
(b) ROM
(c) WORM
(d) PROM
(e) EPROM

QUESTION 3

When using batch processing, the batch is processed as a group called a:
(a) file
(b) disk
(c) sector
(d) job
(e) database.

QUESTION 4

The bar code that consists of bars and spaces representing a manufacturer's and product's identity is the:
(a) United Parcel Code
(b) Universal Pricing Code
(c) Universal Product Code
(d) Retail Bar Code
(e) Magnetic Ink Character Recognition.

QUESTION 5

Bar codes have NOT generally been used by:
(a) banks
(b) supermarkets
(c) warehouses
(d) hospitals
(e) libraries.

Put a tick in the appropriate box.	True	False
QUESTION 6
A magnetic disk can only be used as a sequential storage device.
QUESTION 7
Universal Product Code will identify both the manufacturer and the product.
QUESTION 8
Plotters are used to prepare high-quality graphics.
QUESTION 9
Addressing each pixel on a screen is known as compiling.
QUESTION 10
Very few uses have been found for voice output devices.
Write the most appropriate word on the line.
QUESTION 11
Magnetic tapes and disks are examples of ___________________.
QUESTION 12
How many bits are used for each column of a standard magnetic tape? ___________________.
QUESTION 13
Compared to magnetic disk, magnetic tape is well suited for use as a(n) ___________________.
QUESTION 14
The data are processed immediately upon input into the system when using ___________________.

Answers to quiz

Question 1.	(c)
Question 2.	(c)
Question 3.	(d)
Question 4.	(c)
Question 5.	(a)
Question 6.	F
Question 7.	T
Question 8.	T
Question 9.	F
Question 10.	F
Question 11.	secondary storage
Question 12.	9
Question 13.	backup medium
Question 14.	workstations
Question 15.	real-time processing

Answer pointers to Review questions

Taken from Simmons (1992).

REVIEW QUESTION 3-1

1. Source data automation is becoming widespread for several reasons:
   • It eliminates transcription errors and costs associated with extra handling generated by traditional input methods, which entail multiple steps and human intervention at several points before data are converted to machine-readable form.

   • It captures data more rapidly than traditional input methods.

   • Source data input technology is becoming increasingly sophisticated (e.g. voice input) and affordable.

2. Input, storage, and output technologies play a large role in determining what an information system can or can't do. For example, UPS's use of bar code scanning technology described in the opening vignette allows it to automate its processes. On-line systems such as airline reservations requiring immediate access to data are dependent on disk technology. They couldn't work with magnetic tape. Computer-aided design systems would not be possible without the use of color graphics terminals or graphics plotters.

REVIEW QUESTION 3-2

1. 	USED	NOT USED
   Input:	bar code reader	standard keyboard
   	touch screen	voice
   	magnetic card reader	pen-based
   Output:	shipping labels	all others
   	tracking report
   	greeting cards
   Storage:	disk	all others
   	CD-ROM

   Those selected are easy to use and require little training; voice and pen-based systems cannot be used by the general public because of recognition issues.

2. Touch screens require no training, no typing skills and have no movable parts to break.

3. In the Intouch example, the customer fills out a survey by hand, which could be done using a computer input device (such as a keyboard). It probably isn't done that way to eliminate the need to train the customer on using the device.

4. Kiosks can provide consistent information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The kiosk will not become impatient with the user nor will it forget any information. A kiosk cannot satisfy a person's desire for human interaction.

5. Various answers are possible:

   one example: hotel information at an airport
   

   input: touchscreen to allow user to select from a set of attributes
   output: printed list of hotel addresses and phone numbers
   storage: CD-ROM for its large capacity.