OCR Nationals Level 3 Extended Diploma in ICT

St Leonard’s Catholic School Centre 43421 OCR Nationals Level 3 Extended Diploma in ICT

OCR Nationals Level 3 Extended Diploma in ICT

Unit 1 Digital Business Communication

Time 60 Guided learning hours

Student ______

Teacher Miss L Maughan

Date to be: / Issued / Completed / Verified
01/09/09

Background

You have recently started working as a business advisor for a new night club opening in Durham City Centre. Your job is to provide advice and support for this business on a range of roles including marketing and promotions.

Your duties involve working with management to produce a range of business support materials which are to be produced and distributed using ICT. Some documents are to be printed whilst others are to be viewed on screen.

You must adhere to this policy for working with electronic files.

The company policy states that:

• Safe working practices, complying with Health and Safety legislation, must be employed at all times

• work must be organised using an appropriate folder/file structure that makes it easy for a third party to locate files

• version numbers must be included in filenames, where appropriate

• backups of files to a removable medium must be created regularly

• files must be password protected, as appropriate, to prevent unauthorised viewing and/or editing

• documents that contain confidential information should be protected by the use of permissions.

Cheating will not be tolerated under any circumstances. When you hand in an assessment, it is expected to be your own work and not the work of another person. By signing this declaration, you are stating that this is an original piece of your own work and not something that you have either;

· Copied from another person

· Copied word for word from a book, magazine, internet or CD – ROM.

Any person caught cheating could incur severe penalties and even withdrawal from this and any other examination.

Work handed in after the agreed deadline / hand in date will not be marked and could therefore affect your final grade.

This assignment is my own work and other than normal classroom teaching I have had no external help.
I have also clearly acknowledged the work produced by other people.
I accept that if this work is handed in late it may affect my final grade.
Name ….
Signature …. Date ….

Learning outcomes:

By completing this unit candidates will develop a thorough knowledge and understanding of

communication in a business context. They will also demonstrate how ICT can be used to support

and enhance business communication.

Candidates will produce evidence to meet the unit assessment objectives in order to show that

they understand:

• the role and contribution of communication technology to business

• the aids and barriers to effective communication

• the application of a presentation style to document creation

• the use of written communication using ICT in a business context

• the effective use of email in a business context

• document and computer security in the workplace

• the use of standard ways of working to work safely, keep information secure and manage personal information.

Your evidence for the assessment of this unit will be collected from 6 tasks.

All 6 tasks will contribute to the assessment of criteria – some of these tasks will be printed addressing AO4 and you are advised to read AO4’s guidance at the end of task 6 before starting to create documents.

Task One (AO7)

In this task you are going to set up your directory folder structure and begin to collect evidence for AO7. Remember that the company policy states that:

• Safe working practices, complying with Health and Safety legislation, must be employed at all times

• work must be organised using an appropriate folder/file structure that makes it easy for a third party to locate files

• version numbers must be included in filenames, where appropriate

• backups of files to a removable medium must be created regularly

• files must be password protected, as appropriate, to prevent unauthorised viewing and/or editing

• documents that contain confidential information should be protected by the use of

permissions.

In order to complete this task you must:

· Show you have backed up your work regularly to a USB pen. This is best evidence through weekly screenshots showing the folder size and date.

· Set up your folders correctly and provide evidence of correct file name conventions

· Put password protection on at least three different files and provide evidence of requesting the password for opening and modifying the files

· Prove that you have put versions on your report and covering letter for AO1

· Create a Health and Safety / Safe working requirements poster based on the above policy to be displayed in the new night club

· Use access permissions on your work

To achieve a pass you must:

· Use standard ways of working to work safely, keep information secure and manage personal information

To achieve a merit you must:

· Demonstrate an awareness of H and S issues related to the use of ICT and apply this on most occasions.

· Use standard ways of working to organize their work efficiently, showing understanding of some security measures, including passwords to open/modify.

· Back up their work to a secure medium

To achieve a distinction you must:

· Demonstrate an awareness of H and S issues related to the use of ICT and apply this at all times

· Use SWOW to organize your work efficiently

· Demonstrate how they have considered and applied document security to their own files, including password to open/modify

· Demonstrate a good understanding of version numbers and access permissions

· Back up your work regularly to a secure medium

Task Two (Assessing AO3)

In your next tasks you will be asked to create different documents using 3 different types of software. However, you need to use a template to create those documents. This task requires you to create a range of templates.

Part 1:

Create a housestyle that will be used across a different range of your business documents. You need to think about:

· Fonts

· Headings

· Colours

· Layout and graphics

· Borders

· Lines

Part 2:

Create a business report template. Your report template must contain the following sections and follow your housestyle:

· front cover

· contents page

· page numbers, filename and date in footer + partner logos

· header with logo + company name

· pages for the following:

o Introduction

o Summary of research

o Main findings

o Conclusion

o Bibliography

Part 3:

Create a 3 part leaflet template that follows your housestyle. Include

· logo, company name

· set fonts

· set graphical elements inc. partner logos

· set colour scheme

· set text styles

· set master template

Part 4:

Create a business letter template that follows your housestyle. Your business letter must contain the following sections:

· The sender’s address

· The Date

· The recipient’s address

· Dear….

· The body of the letter

· Close of the letter (yours faithfully, or sincerely (if named person)

· Your signature

Part 5:

Create a presentation master slide template that follows your housestyle. You need to create two templates; one for the title slide and one for the main body slide

Part 6:

Create a fax or agenda header that follows your housestyle.

To achieve a pass you must:

· Design and create templates for 3 business documents

· Have used your text style and paragraph formatting

· Have a consistent housestyle across all documents

To achieve a merit you must:

· Design and create templates for 4 business documents using 2 different software packages

· Have used your text style, paragraph formatting, page layout and graphic elements

· Templates will show a consistent housestyle

· Suit the purpose of each communication

To achieve a distinction you must:

· Design and create templates for at least 5 different business documents using at least 3 different types of software

· Include appropriate user-defined styles, page layout and graphic elements

· Ensure your templates show a consistent housestyle

· Suit the purpose of each communication

· Create templates of a near professional quality

Task Three (Assessing AO1 and part AO4 – two documents)

In this task, you’ve been asked by a client to produce a report on the use of business communications technologies.

Part 1: Research and write a full description of 3 of these technologies

o Email

o Internet

o www

o intranet

o vpn

o video conf

o web conf

o tele conf

o instant messaging

Part 2: Here are some examples of benefits and drawbacks for comms techs:

Benefits: eg

• speed of communication

• consistency of messages

• central control

• collaborative working

• customisation

• targeting

Drawbacks: eg

• information overload

• susceptibility to unauthorised access

• dependence on technology

• lack of access

• cost

• legal implications

Using these benefits and drawbacks, produce a table with each technology listing benefits, drawbacks and examples to back up your descriptions

Tech / Benefit / Drawback / Examples

Part 3:

Explain the terms e-commerce, e-business, e-marketing (For Merit, e-commerce only, for Distinction do e-business and e-marketing as well).

Part 4:

Explain the link between communication technologies and E commerce, E business, E marketing. Specifically, explain how communication technologies have contributed to the growth of E commerce, E business and E marketing.

Part 5: (this task relates to AO4 use at least 4 different types of written communications)

Structure your research into a report using the report template you created in task 2.

You should organise your report into:

front cover
contents page
page numbers, filename and date in footer + partner logos
header with logo + company name
pages for the following:
Introduction
Summary of research
Main findings
Conclusion
Bibliography

Part 6: (this task relates to AO4 use at least 4 different types of written communications)

Create a covering letter using the letterhead template you created for AO3 and address the report and letter to your client.

To achieve a pass you must:

· Research three types of business communication system

· Produce a business report for the client based upon your research. This report should include:

o A description of the three business communication systems

o An explanation of the benefits and drawbacks of these systems giving relevant examples

To achieve a merit you must:

· Research three types of business communication system

· Produce a business report for the client based upon your research that includes:

o A description of the three business communication systems

o An explanation of a range of benefits and drawbacks of these systems giving relevant examples

· Explain how communication technology has contributed to the growth of e-commerce

To achieve a distinction you must:

· Research three types of business communication system

· Produce a business report for the client based upon your research that includes:

o A detailed description of the three business communication systems

o A detailed explanation of a range of benefits and drawbacks of these systems giving relevant examples

· Explain how communication technology has contributed to the growth of e-commerce, e-marketing and e-business

Task Four (Assessing AO2 and part of AO4 – 1 document)

You’ve been asked by the Managing Director of your nightclub to produce a presentation on the topic of Effective Communication, your specific topic is “the aids and barriers to effective communication”.

Part One:

Research the following factors which can help or hinder effective communication and explain what they are and HOW they can aid or hinder communication:

•purpose

• medium

• message

• text (font, style, size), formatting, layout

• language (formal/informal, etc)

• writing style

• readability

• accessibility

• age, gender, cultural, emotional

• speed of delivery

Part Two:

For each factor, give at least 2 examples to explain/ justify your explanations in part 1. For distinction, you will need 4 examples for each factor. Examples MUST be appropriate.

Part Three: (this task related to AO4 use at least 4 different types of written communications)

Present your research in parts 1 and 2 as a Powerpoint show using the master slide template you created as part of AO3.

You must use speaker notes in order to explain your points.

To achieve a pass you must:

· Demonstrate a limited explanation of some of the aids and barriers to effective communication

To achieve a merit you must:

· Explain many of the aids and barriers to effective communication

· Use at least two examples of each aid or barrier

To achieve a distinction you must:

· Explain thoroughly a wide range of aids and barriers to effective communication

· Use at least four examples of each aid or barrier

Task Five (Assessing AO5)

In this task, you are required to demonstrate effective use of email in a business context.

Part One:

Enter all of these addresses into your address book

First Name / Last Name / Group / Email Address
Sally / Tyrone / Work /
Balbir / Singh / Work /
Anne / Keith / Friend /
Penny / Howe / Family /
Eileen / Roquefort / Work /
Beverley / Gilbraith / Work /
Colin / Hunter / Work /
Trevor / Vass / Work /
Stuart / Hall / Work /
Simon / Bowler / Work /

Also add the managing director

?????? WORK group.

Part Two:

Set up a distribution list for your work email addresses

Part Three:

Set up an email signature for yourself

Part Four:

Create a word document that discusses netiquette and email etiquette. Save it into word with the URL of the websites you used in your searches.

Part Five:

The managing director has asked you to email her your netiquette info + the PPT on effective communication you created earlier. They must be emailed as single zipped folder. Include instructions on how to extract the files + CC Colin Hunter.

Part Six:

Create folders and rules to organise your inbox Create two folders within your Inbox, one to store emails from the managing director, and one to store emails from your other work colleagues. To achieve Distinction level you should also set up rules to automatically save emails in the appropriate folder.