General Education Assignment:
Students will be able to use technology to find, gather and process data in order to convert it into information to solve a problem or make a decision and effectively communicate the results to the intended audience.
In order to successfully complete the task, students would have to demonstrate the ability to:
A. Choose the appropriate technology based on its capabilities and limitations to solve the task
B. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, and synthesize relevant data into useful information
C. Use the technology and the information to create a solution or make an appropriate decision
D. Communicate the information and solution/decision effectively using the appropriate media and format to the intended audience
E. Use the technology in a legally and ethically acceptable manner

Refer to the Gen. Ed. Computer Skills Assessment Rubric for details on the assessment.

Assignment:

You have decided to start a small business and you need to equip the office with the standard technology of a Laptop computer, a Smart TV, and a Multi-Function Printer.  You are also going to research another computer technology used in your line of work or major and compare two possible options in a similar manner to the standard equipment. Below are the 4 comparison tasks and their requirements.
1) Comparison Task 1: Find and compare two laptops under $1500 and choose the best based on the analysis of the components.
o Excel Spreadsheet will be used to compare the computers.
o Comparison should include the following using the appropriate terms:
Price in Dollars
Manufacturer details (Name and Model)
OS (Manufacture, Version and Word Size)
Primary Storage (Type and Capacity)
Secondary Storage (Type and Capacity)
Processor (Speed and Number of Cores)
Display Specifications (Type, Size and Quality)
Input and Output Ports (Video, Audio, USB, etc)
Wired and Wireless Networking Capabilities (Ethernet, Bluetooth, WIFI, etc)
o Use the Excel currency format for the Price
o Formulas are required to compare the numeric values of the specifications
o Two graphs are required to compare the pertinent components for your decision
o References to the e-commerce site(s) used for the details should be added to the Word Document in the reference tool

2) Comparison Task 2: Find and Compare two Smart TV displays under $500 and choose the best based on the analysis of the components.
o Excel Spreadsheet will be used to compare the TVs.
o Comparison should include the following using the appropriate terms:
Price in dollars
Manufacturer details (Name and Model)
Screen Specs.
Display Type
Size
Resolution
Refresh Rate
Aspect Ratio
Contrast Ratio
Wired and Wireless Capabilities (HDMI, Ethernet, USB, WIFI, etc)
o Use the Excel currency format for the Price
o Formulas are required to compare the numeric values of the specifications
o Two graphs are required to compare the pertinent components for your decision
o References to the e-commerce site(s) used for the details should be added to the Word Document in the reference tool

3) Comparison Task 3: Find and compare two multi-function printers under $125 and choose the best based on the analysis of the components.
o Excel Spreadsheet will be used to compare the printer.
o Comparison should include the following using the appropriate terms:
Price in dollars
Manufacturer details (Name and Model)
Printer Specs.
Printer Technology,
Color Resolution
Black and White resolution
Scanner Specs.
Scanner Resolution
Wire and Wireless Capabilities (Ethernet, USB, WIFI, etc)
o Use the Excel currency format for the Price
o Formulas are required to compare the numeric values of the specifications
o Two graphs are required to compare the pertinent components for your decision
o References to the e-commerce site(s) used for the details should be added to the Word Document in the reference tool

4) Task 4: Find another computer device from the textbook that would be useful for your business and compare the two devices in a similar to the above. The devices compared should be about the same price and the choice based on the analysis of the components.
o Device Choices
Smartphones
Digital Cameras
E-book Readers
Tablets
Servers
Embedded computers
Wearables
POS Terminals
Game Consoles
o Excel Spreadsheet will be used to compare the devices.
o Use the Excel currency format for the Price
o Formulas are required to compare the numeric values of the specifications
o Two graphs are required to compare the pertinent components for your decision
o References to the e-commerce site(s) used for the details should be added to the Word Document in the reference tool

Final Reports:

Spreadsheets: Each Comparison Task will have:
o Its own Spreadsheet (4 tabs in one excel document is preferred) to compare the components of the two devices in each category.
o Components listed appropriately for each comparison
o Formulas to display min and max values of all numeric specifications
o Graphs of at least two of the components used in the comparison that make your case

Word Document: The choices made for the four devices (Laptop, TV, MFP and the researched device) will be summarized in a word document containing at least:
o A title using the title format in Word
o An introduction to your business
o Four paragraphs describing the decisions you made for each task
Each Paragraph will include:
A Header using Heading Style 1 in Word
What the device will be used for in the business
How the device meets the needs for your business and
Why the device chosen was better than the other device in your comparison,
o A conclusion using the Heading 1 Style in word
A paragraph on how the choices will make your business flourish.
o All references documented using the bibliography tool in Word.
Eight references to the e-commerce pages where the specifications
One reference to website describing the use of the technology chosen in Task 4 for the business.

PowerPoint Presentation: A PowerPoint presentation with audio will also be created to present this information to an audience using:
o Title and Conclusion Slide
o Graphs from the spreadsheets used for the comparison
o Bullet point summary of the decisions for each device compared
o Recorded audio narration for each slide
o Slide Transitions specified between categories
o Animations to accent the graphs