Society has changed over the years due to technology. iPod World: The End of Society

Assignment SLP Reflecting on Andrew Sullivan's essay, "iPod World: The End of Society," write a well-organized and well-supported essay in which you identify the ways in which society has changed over the years due to technology. A well-organized essay has a beginning, middle, and an end. The beginning, or introduction, should include an opening sentence to grab your reader’s attention. Follow the opening sentence with a brief background on the topic or situation. In this case, it would be an explanation of the changes in society of the years. The last sentence of the introduction is the thesis statement. The thesis states the main point of the essay, which in this case, would be a statement affirming whether or not society has changed over the years due to technology (for better, for worse, or both) and possibly the ways society is different now. A well-supported essay includes supporting points, details, and examples. For this essay, you must decide the best way to organize the body of the paper. Will you have a paragraph for each change? Will you divide the body of your paper into three or more paragraphs, one for each difference? In any case, each body paragraph must support (explain) your reasoning (rationale) using specific details. Each body paragraph must have a topic sentence that states the main point of the paragraph. The conclusion typically summarizes the main points of the essay and/or closes with a lasting impression that connects the reader to their world. In this case, where is our society headed? Is it too late for change? Be sure to proofread your essay and edit for proper grammar, punctuation, diction (word choice), and spelling, as errors in sentence skills will lower a final grade. A grade will be determined based on the Module 2 SLP expectations and the Trident University General Education rubric for English. Papers must be double-spaced in Times or Times New Roman font (12 cpi) with standard one-inch margins. The first person "I" is not used in a formal essay, nor is the passive "you." In place of "you," "one" may be used. No secondary sources are to be used in the process of writing this first paper; it is to be entirely written based on one's point of view and supported with body points and details. Expectations Write an essay (no less than three pages in length) that states an original thesis statement on society and technology today. Include an introductory paragraph with thesis statement. Include body paragraphs (each with a topic sentence that states the point of the paragraph) that support the thesis through examples and details. Include a conclusion that summarizes the main points of the essay and/or leaves the reader with a lasting impression on the issue. Proofread your essay for errors in grammar, diction (word choice), punctuation, and spelling.

IS310 Group Project ((max 25 points) - Guidelines

A. Planning and implementation plan (5 points): initial plan (2 points) and final plan (3 points - with updates to the initial)

Put together a plan in the format of a simple table (Excel) with heading "Project Plan" and the following columns:

1.    Activity/Task (Activity/Task that lasts a minimum 1/2 day even though it may span over several days, e.g. Excel data analysis tool learned, discussion among team members, project report, etc.)

2.    Responsible by (name of primary person)

3.    Estimated start date, Estimated end date

4.    Actual start date, Actual end date

5.    Comment (short comment used for early completion, reason for delay, skills needed, etc.)
Activity (task)    Responsible    Est start date    Est end date    Actual start    Actual end    Comment
                       

B. Project reporting (20 points) - Outline of Project Report

To KISS (keep it simple), the report outline will consist of

1.    Project description (5 points)

a.    Statement of goal

b.    Survey or poll method if applicable (e.g. you conduct your own survey, number of questions, why the questions, etc.)

c.    Source of sample data collected (e.g. from work, public data source such as FED data base, etc.)

d.    Data organization in Excel format

e.    Skills learned: Develop some Excel skills (install Excel add-in, how to use countif(), pivot table and charting, etc.): learned individually, in group with name of learners). Make sure to list the source of those skills learned, URL if Internet, chapter of textbook, etc.)

2.    Analysis

a.    Data analysis (5 points)

i.    Use primarily Descriptive Statistics and Pivot charting of Excel in combination with some basic Excel function for counting (e.g. countif() to analyze data descriptively.

ii.    Discussion: What statement can you make about this analysis? What are the findings?

b.    Statistical analysis (these will be explained during lectures) (7 points)

i.    Do the confidence interval at 95% and compute the margin of error

ii.    Do Z-test, t-test, and chi-square test

iii.    Do a simple linear regression test for two selected variables

iv.    Discussion

3.    Lessons learned - Conclusion (2 points)

4.    Team participation evaluation (publicly in this report or privately in Dropbox/email) (1 point)

a. For this evaluation, you are to comment on other team member on his/her participation. Consider the two possibilities:

i.    No issues: You are working together fine as a team, each member contributes to the completion of the group project (no need to do private Dropbox/email)

ii.    There are issues on team member collaboration and contribution: State what issues 1) The issues are resolved: State how it is resolved

2) The issues are not resolved (in this case, go to the Dropbox and drop me an explanation -only me who can read it, or shoot me an email on your evaluation of other team members.

5. Attachments

(Any necessary attachments you think is necessary for clarification and completeness)

The project option will give you an opportunity to further understand the materials and especially to apply them to a simple business problem. The project will offer many advantages: the ability to plan and execute the plan (implementation), the ability to exercise your commitment, collaboration and coordination (working together), the ability to share information and knowledge and to help each other to excel, the ability to extend your skills beyond those provided by the course (develop Excel skills from youtube.com and/or similar websites), and the ability to put together a sound report, among other things.

There is the possibility of group dysfunction (one member works more than the other, members avoiding or not doing their part, etc.) for one reason or another. That's the reason I want you to evaluate each other's participation and discuss it in the report.

It's the truth about participation/contribution I want to hear. You don't have to judge the other members' character. Just tell me facts, e.g. no shows at meeting, no response to emails, no contribution to the project, and the like, just as in any business project. Tell me what you have to do to resolve it. Based on the facts reported individual contribution will be evaluated.

If you decide to work on project, shoot me an email. You can work alone or with another classmate. I won't read any draft versions of your final report. Additional guidelines will be given during the lectures.

On your IS310 project data

Depending upon what you want to study, you may have your own source of data, e.g. from your work place. In case you don't, there are a couple of sources:

1.    IS310 entrance survey data (posted)

2.    CSULB data. You can access http://daf(dot)csulb(dot)edu/offices/univ svcs/institutionalresearch/ where you can find all source of data on CSULB.

3.    Source of data on education https://nces(dot)ed(dot)gov/ or

4.    Other national or international sources I listed in chapter 1 of the textbook.

You will use the raw data provided from those sources or surveyed on your own. For your project, you cannot use other people study and results. That would be plagiarism.

Good luck.