Assignment Brief

Assignment brief
Qualification	BTEC First. Level 2
Unit number and title	1. Communicating in the IT industry.
Start date	5 th Sept. 2011
Deadline	15th Dec. 2011
Assessor name	P. Wilkinson.
Assignment title	Communicating in IT through specialist channels
The purpose of this assignment is to: enable learners to use IT tools to communicate and exchange information safely, securely and effectively with different audiences. Learners will also consider the impacts of IT.
Scenario: You work in the IT support department at RS Components. Senior management have decided that internal communication within the company will now be paperless. An electronic newsletter and  bulletin is to be provided by using  a Posterous blogsite, which will be linked to email addresses. Your department have been given the task of setting up the communication channels and producing a range of user guides for employees.
Task 1  P5. Deadline  10th Sept. Create a new Gmail account and set up a Blogger site. Using your new Gmail account, send an email to your teacher with your Blogger site name details in the main text of the email. M1. Deadline 24th Sept. In your first post, identify why you think a blogsite is an effective means of communication within a large organisation. Use some of the features of Bloggerto illustrate your report. D1 . Optional. Deadline 10th Nov. Add notes to this post explaining some common safety issues with using blogsites, and explain how your information and data can be made safe.
Task 2 P2. Deadline 15th Sept. Using MS Word, produce a set of instruction showing how to set up a Gmail account. Include instructions on how to organise an email account using groups and folders. Show how a signature can be added to outgoing mail.  Use screenshots to illustrate your instructions. The instructions should be aimed at section managers, who are users with some technical knowledge. They will use these instructions to train less experienced staff. Upload your instructions to Posterous. P3. Deadline 15th Oct.. Using Adobe Fireworks, create annotated screenshots that can be used to show novice users how to set up a Posterous account. P4. Deadline 20th Oct. Show that you have used proofing tools such as spelling and grammar checks to ensure that your work is error-free. It is acceptable to show before and after versions of your documents to show that proofing has taken place. P1. Deadline 25th Oct. In groups or pairs look at the user guides produced, and give each other feedback on the quality of the work produced. The feedback must be added to Posterous in the comment boxes provided.
Task 3 P6. Deadline 15th November. Produce a short report in which you discuss the advantages and disadvantages of moving to an IT-based communication system. You should aim to evaluate the social impact and the effect on working practises. M2. Deadline 20th November. Add a section to your report that describes some of the threats and risks likely to arise from using IT based communication within a large company.
Sources of information Sources of information Textbooks Bolton R – People Skills (Simon & Schuster, 1986) ISBN-10 067162248X, ISBN-13 978-0671622480 Barker A – Improve Your Communication Skills, 2nd edition (Kogan Page, 2006) ISBN-10 0749448229, ISBN-13 978-0749448226 Websites www.mindtools.com/page8.html www.businessball.com

This brief has been verified as being fit for purpose
Assessor	P. Wilkinson
Signature		Date	18/7/2011
Internal verifier	C. Sumpter
Signature		Date	18/7/2011