UNIT 1: Communications and Employability Skills Personal Development P7 P8 M3 D2

M3

LEARNING STYLES

Not everyone has the same type of learning style. People find it easier to learn things in different ways.  To find out your own learning style you are easily able to take an online test to find out which one you are. There are three different ones.

These are:

Visual Learner

These types of learners take in information and ideas visually, this can include pictures, diagrams and bullet points when revising. Using different colours for your written work can highlight key points which you find difficult to remember. Watch any videos or visit exhibitions which are relevant to what you are studying and can help you understand the subject further.

Auditory Learner

These types of learners take in information through listening, such as rhymes and rhythms can help memorise important information. Reading aloud your work several times if there’s something you don’t quite understand and working in a noiseless environment helps to remember work better. Listening to podcasts or videos relevant to the subject you are taking will help the learner take more information in through this way.

Kinaesthetic Learner

These types of learners take in information through physical activity they take things in more if they are moving around whilst learning. This could be done through creating cue cards with important information on and then wandering about in a room whilst reading them. Acting out ideas, problems or particular events from subjects will help you recall them easier. By revising each subject in separate areas will help you remember the information by thinking about the area you revised in.

D2

I set myself several targets last year when I started at college and I am really quite pleased at what I have managed to achieve. I feel I have made good progress and have achieved 3 targets to 100%. I have aimed to complete every assignment to a distinction if possible and believe that I can achieve that if I continue to work hard. I also am spending a lot of free time completing assignment work or improving it to try and reach this goal quicker.

I always make an effort to hand in assignments before the date required so I have time to make alterations and corrections.

I also felt that I have pushed myself quite hard as English is not my first language but I felt that my computer knowledge was good enough to apply for the BTEC level  3 course rather than start at level one. I am pleased that I have managed to prove to myself that I was capable of going in at level 3 as in the beginning I was advised to start at level one.

List of targets set and achievements:

Target: Speak more in class

Actions: achieve it by not being shy and scared if the answer is wrong

Target: Upgrade my home computer for higher specs

Actions: Achieve it by trying to get a job and earn the money or save up

Target: Find a Job

Actions: Achieve this by showing effort and look for a job

Target: Pass my Cisco final exam over 80%

Actions: Achieve it by revising at home and take notes during lesson

Target: Try at the end of this term to achieve a merit or even distinction on my overall target

Actions: I will achieve this by working really hard at college and home and show effort in class

Target: Work really hard to pass my exams and assignments

Actions: Show effort and revise at home

Target: Build a computer

Actions: Gets the parts and try to build it

When I started college last year I was a bit wary of college life in general and having moved from Cyprus to further my education I felt well out of my comfort zone. However I feel that everyone has been very helpful and made me feel very at ease. I know that maybe people think I am not showing much interest as I don’t speak very much but I am naturally quite a shy person and sometimes find it difficult to join in and shout out, that doesn’t mean that I am not enjoying the course I am on.

I think that other students when they have got to know me, know that they can ask me to help them and I always will and I enjoy helping.

When I finish this course I haven’t really decided what I want to do. If there is a further course available to me at the college then I will probably consider that, but I do know that rather than go to university

I would really like to open my own computer shop, but I think I need more experience in order to do this so I think I will try and get a job where I can gain this experience and set a goal for the future.

Communicate Technical information P1 P2

Computer Programmer Job

P1

Company:Enterprise Recruitment

Location: London

Salary: £23000 to £34000 per annum - excellent benefits

Job Type: Permanent

Hours: 37-40 per week

Job Knowledge

Job knowledge is the knowledge required for the job role. This is very important to the employee as they would need to know what the work involves and if it meets their interest and if their skills are capable of working within the job role.

Teamwork

Teamwork skills are very important in group activities, and employers will depend on groups to be able to work together and co-operate to achieve the desired results. For this to work each member of the group will need to have experience, knowledge and skill working in a team/group.

Time Management

Time management is important in most jobs, and includes an activity/activities to be completed in a set time. This requires the employee to be able to have a hold on the amount of time set to complete a job or a variety of jobs.

Leadership Skills

This skill revolves around the individual’s ability to be able to manage co-workers to work effectively towards meeting the group’s goal. This skill will require the individual’s initiative to take charge and be responsible for any of the groups mistakes.

Respect

This means having a positive feeling about yourself and others. Employers should be respectful to others and belief in what they can do. In this case confidence is mostly important as it allows treating yourself and everyone else similarly.

P2

The principles of effective communication are sub-divided into 3 main areas:

General skills:

·        cultural differences

·        adapting content and style to suit audience needs

o   Modulating voice

o   Terminology

o   Format

·        accuracy

·        techniques for engaging audience

o   Changing intonation

o   Use of technology

o   Question and answer

Interpersonal skills:

·        methods

o   verbal exchanges

o    signing

o    lip reading

·        Techniques and cues  

o   body language

o   use of intonation

·        positive language

·        negative language

·        active engagement

o   nodding

o   summarising

o   paraphrasing

·        types of question

o   open

o   closed

o   probing

Written communication skills:

·        Key messages

o   Email

o   letters

o   fax

·        spelling

·        grammar

·        'smileys' or emoticons

·        structure

·        proofreading

·        note taking

·        reviewing and editing

·        Identifying relevance

·        Capitalisation

·        Alternative viewpoints

UNIT 1: Communications and Employability Skills M1 P3

P3

·         Many learners have difficulties that could prevent their attendance at College or from courses. Outline and describe 3 areas of difficulty that could affect the use of computers, and why they cause a problem. (e.g. dyslexic learners cannot read some documents)

People with disabilities face a variety of barriers to computer use. This can cause problems but with so much technology today, computers can be easily adapted to overcome these problems. I have outlined 3 of these below and described what problems are caused.

Mobility Impairments

Some wheelchairs may not fit under standard height computer tables and some computer users do not have enough use of their hands and arms to operate a standard keyboard or mouse.

Equipment can be supplied that is flexible for the positioning of monitors and adjustable tables that can accommodate a wheelchair is useful in these cases.

Computers can also be plugged into power outlet strips with accessible on and off switches allows the person to turn equipment on and off easily.

People with little or no use in their hands would have problems using an ordinary keyboard would be able to use a pointing device and can control the computer this way. Some software is available that creates ‘sticky keys’ that electronically latch the SFIFT, CONTROL, and other keys so that one action can be done instead of the usual 2 or 3 required.

Also people with no use of their hands can be provided with a head stick that can be solely controlled by their head.

For people that can only use one hand to operate a computer, there are keyboards available for left and right handed, these keyboards have a more efficient key arrangement for easy use.

Speech input is also an option, there are speech recognition programmes that are trained to recognize specific voices.

Blindness

In order for blind or visually impaired to access visual material that is on the computer, there are special software programs that are called screen readers, these use speech synthesizers that ‘speak’ the text to you. Earphones can also be used so as not to disturb others nearby.

For people who are blind or visually impaired, most can use a standard keyboard, and there are also Braille input devices available.

For those who are just visually impaired then equipment such as large print keyboards, and screens that have colour adjustment, like reverse screens from black on white to white on black for people who are light sensitive. Anti-glare screens also make the screen easier to read.

Hearing or speech impediments

Most students with hearing or speech impediments are OK to use a standard mouse and keyboard, and they do not usually have a problem using standard on screen documentation.

However speech synthesizers can be of use if a person has difficulty in speaking so that they can participate in classes. These act as substitute voices.

M1

Environmental

Environmental factors come into play when we communicate, and these can be solved easily, for example you could just talk in an environment which allows people to talk with each other without any barriers, for instance if you are outside where there is loud noises you could easily move inside to avoid the problem and communicate better. When you are in a darkened spot it is pretty obvious that you should just either turn a light on or move somewhere were there is light. Another factor is bad smells cannot create a barrier to communicating, when this happens it is not always easy to get rid of the smell, so a lot of the time you could just move somewhere to where there is no bad smells. Mainly with all these different environmental factors the simple solution is just to move away from the problem or fix it.

Body Language

Body language can be a big barrier to communicating when people do not listen, they are looking away, and people are being rude or ignorant to you. All these examples show how body language can be a big barrier while communicating. To solve these problems you can make sure the person or people you are communicating with have your full attention by speaking clearly to them, looking them in the eye, speaking loudly, addressing them by their name so they know its them that you are talking to.

Physical Disabilities

Physical disabilities cannot always be solved but there are mechanisms to help communicate better with the disabled, such as sign language, this is a language that can help people communicate to the deaf or those who cannot talk properly, this is also a barrier for the disabled to communicate with others around them, sight is also a disability that can lead to a lack of communication, with poor sight or blindness, a person may not be able to see another person’s body language while speaking to one another.

Spelling and Grammar

Finally the last written communication barrier to effective communications spelling and grammar and you should spell check and proof read all of your work before you present it. One example of a mechanism which can be used to reduce the impact of this barrier to communication is by not rushing when you are doing your work and you should use the spell checker. Finally this would work because you will have fewer errors in your

UNIT 1: Communications and Employability Skills P4

P4

When thinking about a change of career i owe it to myself to ask certain questions about how i would fit in to a new company. The following questions would be a priority before i accepted a new job.

Questions i would want answers to before starting a new job would be something like:

Question 1

''Is there any reason why you wouldn't offer me the job?''

Expected Answer:

This gives the employer the chance straight away to offer me the job on the spot or why he wouldn't employ me.

Why is it useful?

It is useful to me because i can calculate the thinking of the employer, if he couldn't give me an answer that means he is thinking he wouldn't employ me at all. This would give me a good idea of whether i would get the job.

Question 2

''How would you want people to communicate with you?''

Expected answer:

I would expect a manger to communicate with me directly and not send me emails because i would think this was rude.

Why is it useful?

If i got the answer that the manager only emails and doesn't communicate face to face i would look for a company that did i couldn't work for a company like that.

Question 3

''What excites you about coming to work every day?''

Expected answer:

Most employers like to talk about their successes and achievements in a company so they should give you a lot of information.

Why is it useful?

If they are  enthusiastic that shows me that it is a good company to work for, and that people enjoy their jobs.

Question 4

''As an employee, how could i exceed your expectations?''

Expected answer:

i would expect the employer to tell me what the company hopes to achieve by offering the new job.

Why is it useful?

This shows the employer that i am a confident person and not afraid to ask direct questions it will also show me from the information i receive whether i would want consider accepting the job.

Question 5

''How could i help your company meet its goals?''

Expected answer:

The answer i would expect to receive would give me a better idea of what the actual job consists of and where it could lead to in the future.

Why is it useful?

This would encourage the employer that i am looking for a long term future with the company and would also give me an idea how long the job would last.     

IT Support Guide NDITTS1 Computer System Architecture P1 P2 P3 D1

APPENDIX-1

Report Log Extract

Day	Time	Issue	From
Mon	0800	Cannot get Excel to load the spreadsheet developed at home over the weekend. Urgent as need to prepare report for company auditors.	George, company accountant, been with organisation about a year
Mon	0845	Cannot log into system.	Fredya. New assistant to MD
Mon	0915	Cannot make orders print off.	Edith, been with company since it was formed, marketing assistant
Mon	1000	Cannot access orders list from new machine installed last week, cannot even find database package.	Willo, production team
Tues	0845	Same problem as yesterday.	Freyda
Tues	1300	Mouse keeps jumping then screen locks out, trying to print out college assignment finished at home last night, screen displays message ‘Gotchya’.	Jules, receptionist
Wed	1630	Keep getting message ‘Normal.dot cannot be saved’ when using the templates on the wordprocessor.	Fredya (her CV says she really does have some IT skills)
Thur	0900	Got new piece of design software that needs installing on machine and making compatible with printer.	Willo
Thur	1530	Went to check orders list and screen went ‘pop’ with a nasty smell.	Sunil, production assistant
Fri	1600	Need access to documents stored on Fredya’s machine but her machine won’t get past boot up stage.	Mr Magic, the boss

APPENDIX-2

IT Policy and Procedure document extract

·         The working week for the IT support division is 08.30 to 16.30 Monday to Friday. Any requests for additional time must be submitted two working days in advance.

·         Hardware under guarantee must be returned to the manufacturer in order not to invalidate the warranty.

·         All other hardware will be repaired on site if possible, otherwise it will be sent to a recognised specialist Hardware replacement will take place on a five year rolling programme

·         All documentation supplied with new hardware or software is to be kept in the IT manager’s office.

·         No unauthorised software is to be installed on company machines unless proof of a licence is available.

·         Internet use is restricted to permitted sites at all times.

·         Any member of the technical team who cannot resolve a problem must refer it to their line manager within 24 hours of starting work on the problem.

·          Requests made by the managing director or accountant must be given top priority.

·         All user requests must be acknowledged upon receipt and a timescale for start of support supplied.

·         All current legislation must be complied with at all times.

·         All technical staff are allowed 2 training days per year to allow for professional development.

P1

There are many ways and techniques for identifying a and fixing a fault.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&gs_rn=11&gs_ri=psy-ab&cp=5&gs_id=i&xhr=t&q=teamviewer&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.45921128,d.d2k&biw=1440&bih=799&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=sDaCUcehIqSt0QWaiYDgAg#imgrc=C2hYsZGP03kQLM%3A%3B4t9p2zMtjDM1GM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fscreenshots.en.sftcdn.net%252Fen%252Fscrn%252F60000%252F60958%252Fteamviewer-25.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fteamviewer.en.softonic.com%252F%3B700%3B469

Some methods are:

·         Forums

·         Search Engines

·         Remote Access

·         Software Diagnostic

·         Friends

·         Technicians

·         Dxdiag

·         System Information

·         Device Manager

·         System Properties

Monitoring tools:

A monitoring tool monitors everything on your computer system and keeps record of it. The advantage of a monitoring tool is that if any problem happens you can identify it and also you can check which part of system is causing problem to the system so you can fix it by yourself.

This tool shows the performance of pc system. You can see in the picture like the performance log shows all the system performance by graph in different colours. The different colours represent different system and applications. I.E. the green colour line represents the processor performance, the average of performance, duration and etc. you can add a different log if you want to. You can find performance monitor by going to control panel – administrative tools and click on performance monitor. This performance monitor can be shown in a graphic or a report way and also you can add you own or remove the counter[PP1] .

Event Log Book

An Event log book saves the entire event of the pc system. You can find the event log book by going to the control panel and clicking on administrative tools. In administrative tools you will see event viewer. There are three types of event viewing log, which are applications, this application even show all the events of the application only. You can see on screen shot taken above of the application even viewer. It looks like all the application are fine but there some warnings you can see. It means there can be major problems with the applications software. The second one is security event which shows if there are any security errors in this event and the third one is  system event, this event also shows the warnings and errors of the pc system[PP2] .

[PP3] 

Face to face Questioning

Questioning is the most important part of the job because you have to try and understand the problem his tryin to explain so  later on you know how to fix it and dont loose time looking for it.  You have to try and get as much information out of him so it’s more easier for the technitian. It can be difficult getting the correct information from the client because they might not be that experienced with computers so it is important to take the right approach with the user experience level and change the way you explain things try and make it simple as possible. You would explain the problem and how it was fixed depending on the user experience level.

A very common software diagnostic tool would  be  if the user searched the problem on google by putting in the error code and then try and access a forum website in order to find a solution to fix his problem. Because maybe someone had the same problem before.

P2

Policy/procedure	Impact
The working week for the IT support division is 08.30 to 16.30 Monday to Friday. Any requests for additional time must be submitted two working days in advance.	Major problems will arise here when people like George submit a request before the start time of the IT technicians. His requests are deemed high priority so it might be more suitable if the technicians worked a rota approach. His request will not receive any attention for a long time after he reported it.
Hardware under guarantee must be returned to the manufacturer in order not to invalidate the warranty.	Maybe be bad because the technician might need parts or get a replacement
All other hardware will be repaired on site if possible, otherwise it will be sent to a recognised specialist Hardware replacement will take place on a five year rolling programme	Its good if they fix it on site but five year rolling program is too long to wait for.
All documentation supplied with new hardware or software is to be kept in the IT manager’s office.	Its good like that because everybody knows where it is and they don’t need to look for it.
No unauthorised software is to be installed on company machines unless proof of a licence is available.	I agree because the program they install could be pirated and this might cause viruses. This can slow down the employee by not working also if you need a program it is better to pass it through the technician first
Internet use is restricted to permitted sites at all times	Its good because it stops people of looking at stuff that’s not relevant with their job its bad because they will need to ask for permition so they can unblock the page and that’s a waste of time.
Any member of the technical team who cannot resolve a problem must refer it to their line manager within 24 hours of starting work on the problem	This is good because everybody knows what’s going on. And saving time with the 24 hour limit.
Requests made by the managing director or accountant must be given top priority.	This is because they may have the most simple problem to fix but they are really not a computer expert so in theory it must be faster to fix. Also because it is the boss it must be important.
All user requests must be acknowledged upon receipt and a timescale for start of support supplied.	If the information is not correct  then the user is going to be waiting even longer than expected so the problem won’t be fixed at the end.
All current legislation must be complied with at all times.	This is to stop users from ignoring the rules and if they do not stick to the legislation then discipline action may be taken.
All technical staff are allowed 2 training days per year to allow for professional development.	This is good because the expand their knowledge and that’s good because they can fix more problems[PP4]

P3

Common problems technical support guys have with companies and customers

Forgetting Passwords: this is more common than you think. people are always forgetting passwords, nowadays there is usually forgotten password button so you don't have to ring anybody up.[PP5] 

Can't turn your computer on, or nothing happens

check the power switch, because the number one reason it is not working is because nobody switched the computer on.

Computer is running slow

Could have a virus and that will slow it down, it might have a little disk space or has been infected by a malware. Our help-desk analyst explains that with malware infections, “People are tricked into believing that the pop-ups they receive are actually from a program installed on their computer. So they click on it, and the infection starts to work its way through the computer.” You can help safeguard your computer by not clicking on suspicious links, and clearing your cache or uninstalling a few of those games you rarely play can help create more space. Another solution is to run a program like Ccleaner, which can clean up system clutter and help boost Internet speed.

These faults might be like the internet not connecting problem with drivers hardware problems this might be useful for the company cause they may be able to provide help its better than sending a technician and wasting time because it might not be necessary. This ways allows the person himself able to attempt to fix the computer or at least diagnose the problem.

Network issues

If your wireless network is dead, your router, cable or DSL modem probably crashed. It happens. Reboot the gadgets by unplugging them for 30 seconds, then plugging them back in. That usually solves the problem[PP6] .

Mouse isn’t working – at the helpdesk if a user reports this problem, then they would have to go through a step by step system in order to find out if it is a common problem and is fixable over the phone by trying to tell the user what to do so it doesn’t waste the technician times they will ask if the mouse is plugged in or if it has the correct socket USB,PS2,PS1 then they will get the user to restart so the computer tries to recognise the mouse if not the technician will need to come over

Applications That Won't Install

If you're having trouble with an application not installing, it may be because your computer doesn't have enough hard drive space. If this is the case, you need to free up some space. This is one of the computer problems that's, well, least problematic. You can free up some hard drive space by getting rid of files and folders you don't need. These may be temporary files, duplicate files or data for software you've uninstalled[PP7] .

Installing windows- if the user needs to install a new OS they need to check the minimal requirements first or the might have different problems for example slow, you need to check if your system is 32bit or 64bit. If your try and install a 64 bit windows on a 32 bit  motherboeard it wont work so you either need to change your motherboard or go back to the shop and ask them to give you the right one.

Installing audio drivers- your computer might have a problem with the sound so you would need to install the drivers again cause the may crashed or update them through the website.

Computer Game- some people try to install 64 bit on a 32bit computer and that doesn’t work because it doesn’t mean the requirement or sometimes you can install the game and the computer might not have enough power to start the game and it keep crashing so you might need a better graphics car  or more ram space on your hard drive. Or sometimes it could go blue screen of death because the computer has overheated and can’t take the game.

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 [PP1]ok

 [PP2]Good

 [PP3]You have discussed some relevant tools.

You also need to talk about techniques for providing support such as face to face, questionining, email, etc.

 [PP4]You have discussed both the positive and negative impact of the policies. Well done. P2 achieved.

 [PP5]In which case, there is no need to include this problem here. You still may need the support people in some cases.

 [PP6]Hardware issues discussed.

 [PP7]Brief discussion on software issues.

Can you identify any other software related faults ?