TMA01 – Sandra Číšecká – O8516004

Question 1:
a)

As I am reading the materials for each Part, I make linear and schematic summarizing notes using my
iPad. For calculations (binary numbers), I put down one sample calculation as a formula for the other.
After each Part, I go through the notes and highlight important terms as keywords for me to remember
the topic. All my devices are connected to OneDrive, allowing me to open them anywhere.

(68 words)

b)

https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/openstudio/content.php?id=2181688&sid=929898&vuid=1536441
Question 2:
a)

It is important to keep track of our digital footprint because we are giving information to a wide
audience, both from personal and professional backgrounds. Nowadays, it is very easy to access private
data of anyone using the internet and it could represent the client's or employer's first impression of us.

(51 words)

d)
Question 3:
a)

The first entity is “Customer” with their relevant forename and surname and the second one is “Cruise”.
Each customer will be connected to their specific cruises, each being unique by their date and name.
Like this, we can have a better idea of how many individual cruises are taking place.

(50 words)

b)

Customer Cruise
ID Forename Surname ID Ship Month
N1 Margaret Chen C1 Laurentic January
N2 Kofi Kayiga C2 Delphic February
N3 Barrington Watson C3 Delphic June
N4 Ebony Patterson C4 Oceanic October
N5 Leonard Chen C5 Oceanic March
N6 Guy Harvey C6 Britannic January
N7 Armet Francis C7 Britannic March
C8 Britannic December
C9 Albertic May
C10 Homeric September

I have added one column for each entity to create a unique ID that is going to refer to each person and
each cruise later in the joining table.

(88 words)
c)

Cruise passenger information

Customer ID Cruise ID
N1 C1
N1 C2
N1 C4
N2 C6
N2 C7
N3 C5
N4 C9
N5 C1
N5 C2
N5 C7
N6 C10
N7 C3
N7 C8

d)

Flat databases, such as the one shown in Table 1 can repeat their content. For example, some names of
ships and dates of departure are mentioned on multiple rows and this repetition can create chaos in
determining the number of individual cruises later in a bigger flat database.

Secondly, in case of a mistake in the entered data or a possible change, relational databases unlike flat
ones only have one input for each information. This allows to manage data quickly and only in one
location. In a flat database, we must correct data in all rows and columns where this information was
entered. An example in Table 1 would be changing the spelling of the ship “Delphic” – as the name is
mentioned 3 times in the database, we would have to rewrite the name 3 times.

(136 words)
Question 4
a)

Unlike the first and second generations that used singular components as switches (valves and
transistors), the third-generation computers were equipped with an integrated circuit. Such technology
was introduced in the 1960s and became widely known as the silicon chip. A single chip was carrying
thousands of transistors, making the manufacture of a computer cheaper, smaller, and less energy-
consuming.

The focus then started orienting on other equipment, such as the monitor, mouse, and keyboard (so-
called “Terminal”). A Terminal usually used multiple keyboards for input instead of punched cards and
monitors for output instead of a paper printout. Data could be entered through the computer and later
transferred to another machine using a floppy disk, the first technology allowing to carry a program on a
small storage device. This introduced the portability of data.

(132 words)

Link to the webpage: https://tm111.open.ac.uk/opensites/users/sc37274/O8516004-TMA01.htm

Screenshot of the webpage:

Question 5
a) When designing an interface, we should always think about the target audience of our
program/website. We should ask questions such as “What are the needs of our users?” or “How should
we make the design more comfortable for the users?”. The programmer should always attempt to see
the design through the users' eyes – that can be done by carrying out interviews or cooperating with
specialists from related fields. In other words, a good interface design should be tailor-made.

An activity that I would find useful would be to talk to a specialist, ideally a social care worker in the
vision impairment field. As someone carefully observing the positive and negative impact of newly
introduced exercises and equipment on the clients daily, I consider such a person an ideal advisor.
Carrying out interviews and implementing what seems to be useful in the real world into my program
would be a great first step when accessing a group with special needs.

Accessibility means creating a product that could be used by as many people as possible, comfortably.
Users with special conditions, both mental and physical, should be considered. We should implement
technology assisting those special needs into our system and make our program accessible on most
major device types and platforms. A main objective is to navigate all our users to the same goal, with as
few obstacles as possible.

An assistive technology that I consider helpful would be to implement text-to-speech and speech
recognition software into our website. In such a way, the visually impaired users would have the option
to focus less on their disadvantage and spend more time communicating with each other. With
adequate feedback from the software, they will be reassured about the correctness of their actions at
every step of their online journey.

(296 words)

b) PDP form included in the folder.