Should IS Management Courses Provide Hands-On Experience in Computer and Network Installation?

Recently a group of IS Management students attending an Australian university either studying, or had studied, e-commerce, networking or computer programming units in the Faculty of Business were interviewed whilst completing a questionnaire. These students were asked to express their opinion on a number of issues relating to their course. Some questions were asked using an open PC and associated equipment as a reference. Students were asked a range of questions about the setting up of Internet sites, LANs

Enhancement of the Critical Current Density of YBa2Cu3Ox Superconductors under Hydrostatic Pressure

The dependence of the critical current density Jc on hydrostatic pressure to 0.6 GPa is determined for a single 25-degree [001]-tilt grain boundary in a bicrystalline ring of nearly optimally doped melt-textured YBa2Cu3Ox. Jc is found to increase rapidly under pressure at +20 %/GPa. A new diagnostic method is introduced (pressure-induced Jc relaxation) which reveals a sizeable concentration of vacant oxygen sites in the grain boundary region. Completely filling such sites with oxygen anions should lead to significant enhancements in Jc.Comment: revised manuscript, graphic errors in figures correcte

The sport participation legacy of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and other international sporting events hosted in Australia

The legacy of an Olympic Games in a host city or country can take a variety of forms, including non-sporting benefits, such as enhanced urban infrastructure and national and international tourism profile, and sporting benefits, such as improved sporting facilities, strengthened sports organisations and potential increases in grassroots sport participation. This paper concentrates on the last of these, particularly in regard to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. The paper examines claims by the Olympic movement concerning increased sports participation as a legacy and examines available evidence to consider whether the hosting of the Games boosted sports participation in Australia. While some estimates suggest that participation did increase following the hosting of the 2000 Olympics, the failure of relevant organisations to maintain an adequate and consistent data collection regime makes this conclusion extremely speculative. From 2001 onwards, with the existence of a more stable data collection system and increasing awareness of the idea of a sport participation legacy, it is possible to make more reliable estimates of the pattern of grassroots sports participation following the hosting of the 2003 Rugby World Cup and the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. However, even when reliable and consistent participation data are available, the question of causality in the context of the wider sport development and participation system remains to be addressed. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

Student opinions on their development of non-technical skills in IT education

It is recognized that non-technical or soft skills are a vital part of the IT curriculum and hence are considered to be core curriculum components, particularly in the USA and Australia and is also an important worldwide issue. An extensive analysis within an Australian university context found a mismatch between employer expectations and the university-based instruction in these skills. However, it was noted that this unpreparedness in soft skills may be because students may not have appreciated the importance of these skills – a result confirmed by this study, which used a questionnaire delivered to project students undertaking a range of IT based courses. Internships are not common in Australia and hence to address this problem guest speakers from industry are now regularly invited to give presentations to project students. Furthermore it was also found that those students who had workplace experience more fully appreciated the role of workplace soft skills than those who did not have such experience. This study clearly indicates the importance of a team based project unit for teaching soft skills. A further implication is that students need to be made aware of the importance of soft skills in the workplace as a part of their studies

Network Security Devices and Protocols Using State Model Diagrams

Network security is concerned with protecting sensitive information, limiting unauthorised access, and reinforcing network performance. An important factor in network security is encryption. Internet Security Protocol (IPSec) is the de facto open standard for encryption and replaces the older Cisco Encryption Technology (CET). Both encryption protocols are typically implemented and managed using the text based Command Line Interface (CLI). A graphical user interface (GUI) is available; however, it is not routinely used. Regardless of whether the CLI or GUI is used, both encryption suites are complex to implement and manage. State Model Diagrams (SMDs) were developed and successfully used as the pedagogical foundation of internetworking technologies. SMDs integrate pertinent output from devices and protocol finite state information. SMDs are modular and hierarchical models thereby providing top down deconstruction as a cascaded structure. In terms of ease of use, hyperlinks may be used to navigate between different state tables and diagrams. Moreover, as hierarchical model characteristics allow technical detail to be presented and integrated to assist in managing devices. In this paper, SMDs were used to evaluate CET and IPSec via experiments in order to determine their potential value as network management tool

Economic Sustainability of Remote Access Networking Classrooms

Within the higher education domain, there is a prevalent belief that e-learning, virtual classroom and tele-education are essential requirements for the long-term effectiveness and success of educational institutions. Many information technologies have been adopted to assist studying and learning remotely and are hence potentially beneficial to students, teachers and educational providers. For educational providers, the benefits are that there are no physical or geographical limits to the number of students that can be enrolled in a course of study. However, within the field of network technology, students must actually use network devices during their studies. This is important not only because it significantly enhances student learning, but also within this field, employers expect students to have practical ‗hands-on‘ experience. Software simulators are available but they cannot provide students with the necessary practical experience of connecting together the physical devices. Despite the requirements to provide a ‗hands-on\u27 approach it effectively eliminates remote on-line students. Edith Cowan University (ECU) invested over AUD$350,000 in dedicated network teaching laboratories, which are considered to be of a \u27world-class\u27 standard. An access server has been used to provide remote students with access to this equipment. Significantly it is also possible to view the actual network devices by means of a webcam. Whilst remote access to equipment has been possible students only interact via a computer screen. This work allows students to interact by means of Webcam (visual) and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) (audio). Work to date has consisted of establishing the appropriate infrastructure and testing the communication links. Further trials are planned for semester 2, 2008. Traditional remote access can only operate via Command Line Interface (CLI), this can be difficult for many students to practice and gain experience in computer network and internetworking. In effect on-line students will be able to conduct their workshops on a remotely located \u27world class\u27 network laboratory. For students, the on-line curriculum is available twenty four hours a day; there is typically on-line support, and software is now available allowing access to recorded lectures

Submission to the Senate Select Committee on Administration of Sport Grants Should there be a $100 million federal community sport grants program at all?

It is questionable whether national funds designed to be allocated in small amounts paid directly to local community organisations have a part to play in a federal system. Apart from the clear temptation for pork-barrelling, they make no sense in terms of efficiency and rational policy, particularly when, as is the case with sport and recreation, there is already a system in place to assess local community needs