WBIT 3600 Introduction to E-CommerceSpring 2012

Section Information: Spring 2012 - Christopher Whitehead

Course Name: WBIT 3600 Introduction to E-Commerce

Course Location:

Last updated

January 8, 2012

Course Description

The emphasis of this course is on basic principles and practices of E-business and E-commerce. Topics include infrastructures and applications of E-commerce, E-Tailing, E-Marketing, advertisement, B2B, B2C, C2C, E-Government, M-Commerce, E-Learning, electronic payment systems, security, and legal issues. Students also learn to build simple dynamic E-commerce sites using server-side scripting.

Prerequisites

WBIT 3110 System Analysis & Design, WBIT 3410 Web Applications Development

Course Objectives/Outcomes/Goals

Upon completion of this course the student should be able to:

1. Plan, manage, and evaluate an effective, interactive, and dynamic Virtual Store.
2. Understand and follow legal constraints on E-Commerce webs sites.
3. Understand and follow ethical constraints on E-Commerce web sites.
4. Plan, gather, and manage competitive marketing intelligence.
5. Plan and implement successful electronic advertising.
6. Understand and use electronic banking and payment systems.
7. Understand and work within the implications of international financial transactions.
8. Understand and capitalize upon the unique marketing strategies of the Internet.

Textbook Information

/ Title: E-Commerce 2011
Author: Laudon & Traver
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Edition/Year: 7th
ISBN: 9780136091196
Type: Required resource

Instructor Information

Name: / Christopher Whitehead
Email: / VISTA Account
Alternate email: /
Office phone: / 706-507-8181
Cell phone: / 706-315-5946

Instructor Contact Policy

Please use WebCT Vista email to contact me for personal or private conversation. Class content questions can be posted in discussion forums, just as if you were asking in class. Generally, you can expect a response within 24 to 48 hours. If I do not respond within 24 to 48 hours, please contact me via my ColumbusStateUniversity email or office phone, or call my personal cell phone.

Policy on Changes to the Syllabus

The professor reserves the right to change the class schedule, including assignments and tests with prior notice given to the class.

Class Cancellation Policy

While class cancellation does not apply to an asynchronous online course, should instructional delays occur due to server or connection problems or other unforeseen circumstances, we will endeavor to remain on schedule. Such remedies may include adjustments to due dates, online discussion or tutoring sessions, etc.

Attendance/Participation

All students enrolled in the WebBSIT Program must verify their enrollment by completing the Enrollment Verification Survey in each course. The Verification Survey is on the home page of your course. Enrollment verification information is provided to the Financial Aid Office of your home institution. To verify your enrollment you must log-in to each of your WebBSIT VISTA courses by 5:00 pm on the first day of course instruction and complete the Enrollment Verification Survey. Consistent participation is required in each WebBSIT VISTA course. Activities include e-mail correspondence, discussion threads and study groups, assignment submissions, etc. Additional information concerning participation requirements for this course will be provided later in this syllabus.

Withdrawal

The withdrawal policy and procedures vary by institution. For ColumbusStateUniversity, students who stop attending class without doing the necessary withdrawal paperwork will receive a grade of ‘WF’. Students who withdraw after the withdrawal deadline (February 3 for the Spring 2012 semester) will receive an automatic grade of ‘WF’. For additional information on ColumbusStateUniversity's withdrawal policy, see

No-Show

Students must log into each of their WebBSIT Vista courses by 5pm of the day classes begin (Academic Calendar) to confirm their attendance.

Remember, you are taking an online course and participation in the course is the only way the instructor can "see" you.

If you fail to log into your courses by 5pm of the day classes begin to complete the WebBSIT Enrollment Verification Survey you are considered a “No Show” and notification will be sent to your WebBSIT Institution for appropriate action.

If you fail to participate in course activities within a two-week period at any time during the semester, the instructor will consider your lack of activity as an indication of your intention not to continue in the course.

At this point, the instructor may choose to remove you from group activities or interactions. Failure to participate without officially withdrawing from the course will result in a grade of WF.

Assessment Policies/Grading Scale/Overview of Grading

Grades in this course will be based on the following assessments:

  • Discussions - 20%
  • Quizzes - 10%
  • Individual Assignments - 30%
  • Team Final Project - 15%
  • Midterm Exam - 10%
  • Final Exam - 15%

In addition, the Team Final Project grades may be scaled according to individual assessments of team members.

Grading Scale

Final grades will be assigned according to the following schedule:

Percentage / Grade
90 – 100 / A
80 – 89 / B
70 – 79 / C
60 – 69 / D
<60 / F

Discussion Requirements

A successful student in online education is one who takes an active role in the learning process. You are therefore required to participate in the discussion areas to enhance your learning experience throughout this course. As part of this, you must post a response to one or more of the discussion questions for the current lesson and then post at least one comment on another student's post on one other day.

The discussions will be graded for:

1. Original response - posted as a response to one of the discussion questions.

2. Frequency - at least one other post posted on at least one other different day per lesson.

3. Quality - Content of your contributions.

Examples of quality posts include:

  • providing additional information to the discussion;
  • elaborating on previous comments from others;
  • presenting explanations of concepts or methods to help fellow students,
  • presenting reasons for or against a topic in a persuasive fashion,
  • sharing your own personal experiences that relate to the topic, and
  • providing a URL and explanation for an area you researched on the Internet.

Each graded discussion thread will be worth up to 20 points--up to 10 points for the original response, up to 5 points for the comment, and up to 5 points for posting the response and comment on two separate days and by the assigned due dates. Full credit is awarded when high quality, required frequency, and timeliness is met. One point will be deducted from responses and comments that are not posted on at least two different days. One point per day will be deducted from responses and comments not posted by the assigned due dates.

Remember that each post should be "value added." In other words, your posts should further the thread topics; show that you have learned something from our readings, or outside research; bring anecdotal, life experiences to the threaded issues; ask relevant and forward moving questions; or otherwise promote the Course Objectives for the lesson. Posts like "I agree," or "Great post" are nice, good-will posts but do not count as a graded post.

Individual Assignments

Students will complete one or more individual assignments for each unit. The individual assignments in this course are 30% of your total grade. Access to these assignments and their due dates will be available in the Course Content and the course Calendar. The assignments were created to test the student’s mastery of the appropriate objectives from each unit. Students will submit the assignments to the instructor using the Assignments tool.

Team Final Project

As today's Web sites become more and more complex, the need to develop these sites as teams becomes more and more apparent. As such, the final project will be a team effort where each team will consist of 3-6 members. The team will be responsible for deciding on the scope of the project. Details of the project requirements will be posted within GeorgiaView.

Exams

Quizzes

Each unit contains two or more lessons. Each lesson contains a quiz to be taken online. These quizzes will account for 10% of your total grade for this course. Access to the quizzes will be available in the Course Content and the course Calendar. The quiz for each lesson will be based on the material covered in that lesson. Each quiz will consist of 10-20 multiple choice questions, and will be open book with a 30 minute time limit. These quizzes may be taken up to three times each and will serve as study guides for the Midterm and Final Exams.

Midterm Exam

The Midterm Exam is 10% of your grade for this course. It will be offered online. This is a mandatory exam for this course. The Midterm will consist primarily of multiple choice, objective questions over material presented in the textbook and lessons. The exam may contain one or more short explanation questions (75 - 100 words) drawn from the cases, linked material in the lessons, and discussions.

Final Exam

A Final Exam is worth 15% of your final grade for this course. It will also be offered online. This is a mandatory exam for this course. The Final will be comprehensive and will consist primarily of multiple choice, objective questions over material presented in the textbook and lessons. The exam may contain one or more short explanation questions (75 - 100 words) drawn from the cases, linked material in the lessons, and discussions.

Proctored Exams

There will be no proctored exams in this course.

Online Exams

Both the Midterm Exam and the Final Exam (as well as the unit quizzes) will be available for several days during which time you may login to the exam or quiz at your convenience. Each exam or quiz will have a certain time limit--30 minutes for each quiz, one and one half hours for the Midterm Exam and three hours for the Final Exam. Be careful to login to an exam or quiz at a time when you have the time to complete it. Once you logout of an exam or quiz, you will not be able to get back in.

Course Schedule

The course is divided up into four units with two or more lessons per unit. The following is the tentative schedule for the course:

Dates / Lesson / Readings
1/9 - 1/10 / Startup
1/11 - 1/17 / Lesson 1-1 / Chapter 1
1/18 - 1/24 / Lesson 1-2 / Chapter 2
1/25 - 1/31 / Lesson 2-1 / Chapter 3
2/1 - 2/7 / Lesson 2-2 / Chapter 4
2/8 - 2/14 / Lesson 2-3 / Chapter 5
2/15 - 2/21 / Lesson 3-1 / Chapter 6
2/22-2/25 / Midterm Exam / Chapters 1-6
2/26 - 2/28 / Work on Team Final Project
2/29 - 3/6 / Lesson 3-2 / Chapter 7
3/7 - 3/13 / Lesson 3-3 / Chapter 8
3/14 - 3/20 / Lesson 4-1 / Chapter 9
3/21 - 3/27 / Lesson 4-2 / Chapter 10
3/28 - 4/3 / Lesson 4-3 / Chapter 11
4/4 - 4/10 / Lesson 4-4 / Chapter 12
4/11 - 4/20 / Work on Team Final Project
4/21 - 4/25 / Final Exam / Chapters 1-12

Assessment Deadline Policies (Late Work)

All assignments are due on the day given in the assignment and no later than 11:59 PM (23:59) (Eastern Time).Unless you make prior arrangements with the instructor, any assignment submitted after its assigned due date will be considered late. Late assignments may be submitted up to three days beyond their assigned due date. However, late assignments submitted within the three days following their assigned due date are subject to a 10% reduction in points for each day they are submitted beyond the assigned due date. Assignments not submitted by the assigned due date or within the three days following the assigned due date will be assessed a grade of zero (0).

Academic Honesty

Unless otherwise indicated, all assignments, projects, examinations, etc are individual assessments and evidence of excessive collaboration between students will be treated as cheating. Note that representing the work of another as your own is considered cheating. The usual penalty for cheating is an 'F' on the assignment and may result in an ‘F’ in the course.

For further information, review ColumbusStateUniversity's policy on academic dishonesty/academic misconduct and the current ColumbusStateUniversityStudent Handbook.

Technology Requirements

Primary Requirements

Computers located in on-campus computer labs or libraries cannot be used as the primary computer resource for taking online classes. You will need the reasonably small suite of hardware and software listed below.

Required Hardware

  • Computer: A personal computer with Windows XP or higher, or a MacIntosh with OS 10.4 and Parallels Desktop 3.0 or higher for Mac.
  • Sound: A sound card with speakers or headphones.
  • Monitor: A VGA (or equivalent) or better monitor.

Strongly Recommended Hardware

  • Printer connected to the computer
  • CD-ROM drive
  • Microphone

Internet Connectivity

  • Internet access. For a dial-up connection, at least a 56k modem is recommended. Slower dial-up connections will affect course performance. High speed Internet connectivity (cable or DSL) is strongly recommended.

Required Software

  • Microsoft Office 2007/2010 including: Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint
  • Web Browser: A JavaScript enabled Web browser supported by the Blackboard VISTA 8 Learning Management System. For a complete list of supported browsers, visit
  • Virus protection software
  • Flash Player
  • Animations (Tutorials) used in this course require the installation of the cross-platform Flash Player.
  • Download Flash Player 6 for Windows or Macintosh

Help

Assistance in accessing the course can be found on the WebBSIT Student Portal at by clicking on the "WebBSIT Vista" menu:

Online Support:

WebBSIT Vista Support:

WebBSIT Vista Access Information:

Important Dates

Please see the WebBSIT Calendar for important WebBSIT dates.

GAView Maintenance Schedule

The GeorgiaView maintenance schedule will be posted in the course's calendar. For more information on the University System of Georgia Vista Maintenance Schedule, see