E Commerce

E-commerce (electronic-commerce) refers to business over the Internet. Web sites such as Amazon.com, Buy.com, and eBay are all e-commerce sites. The two major forms of e-commerce are Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B). While companies like Amazon.com cater mostly to consumers, other companies provide goods and services exclusively to other businesses. The terms "e-business" and "e-tailing" are often used synonymously with e-commerce. They refer to the same idea; they are just used to confuse people trying to learn computer terms.

Business-to-Consumer 

• E-commerce refers to all online transactions; B2C stands for "business-to-consumer" and applies to any business or organization that sells its products or services to consumers over the Internet for its own use. B2C has grown to include services such as online banking, travel services, online auctions, health information and real estate sites. Peer-to-peer sites such as Craigslist also fall under the B2C category.
  
  Business-to-Business 

• B2B or Business-to-Business is a transaction that occurs between a company and another company, as opposed to a transaction involving a consumer. The term may also describe a company that provides goods or services for another company.

Consumer to Consumer

• In internet commerce, means through which consumers interact with other consumers through online auctions.
  
  

  E-Banking  

  Online banking (or Internet banking or E-banking) allows customers of a financial institution to conduct financial transactions on a secure website operated by the institution, which can be a retail or virtual bank, credit union or building society.
  
  
  E-Banking Features:
  
  
  • You can view a summary of your account and transaction history
  • You can view or print your account statements and balances
  •  Set up online payments and direct deposit services
  •  You may be able to reorder checks for your account via the web
  •  Some services allow you to export your account histories to third-party accounting software
  •  You can transfer funds from one account to another or make deposits
  •  Other accounts and services like CDs, IRAs, and others can be managed from the online account

   Security (Online Transaction)

  • Exchanging sensitive information without the appropriate encryption technology or security measures can make a computer user or identity particularly vulnerable. Online transactions take place at record speed, oftentimes faster than a standard credit card transaction or check processing. Online transactions can be monitored, recorded, and key logged by a variety of hackers and third parties without the knowledge or consent of the user. 
      
    Some tips on how to make sure your transaction is secure:
    
    
  • use the latest Internet browser
  • look for digital certificates
  • read the privacy policy
  • only use one credit card
  • never give out passwords or user ID information online unless you know who are you dealing with
  • keep records of all of your Internet transactions
  • after you've made purchases online, check your e-mail
  • not sharing password 
   

 Enterprise wide technologies & Methodologies

Collaboration Key - companies set up smart hubs that are not only used by their own customers, but also interact with other companies' sites

Breaking Barriers - allowing constant updates of information related to inventory, product availability and shipping status

Supercharged Kiosks - The customer could even purchase the TV directly from the kiosk for later deliver

IM's New Role - instant messaging likely will be beefed up to handle everyday business processes

Speeding Things up - the real-time aspect of future e-commerce technologies will allow users to engage in "threaded discussions" as they negotiate contracts and share data

On the Same Page  

Wireless e-commerce - also called mobile commerce or m-commerce

Collaborative Online Learning

Online Forum

An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived. Also, depending on the access level of a user or the forum set-up, a posted message might need to be approved by a moderator before it becomes visible.

Rules and policies on forums

      Troll

• Forum trolls are users that repeatedly and deliberately breach the netiquette of an established online community, posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages to bait or excite users into responding or to test the forum rules and policies, and with that the patience of the forum staff. Their provocative behavior may potentially start flame wars (thread) or other disturbances. Responding to a troll's provocations is commonly known as 'feeding the troll' and is generally discouraged, as it can encourage their disruptive behavior.
  
  
  Spamming  
• Forum spamming is a breach of netiquette where users repeat the same word or phrase over and over, but differs from multiple posting in that spamming is usually a willful act that sometimes has malicious intent. This is a common trolling technique. It can also be traditional spam, unpaid advertisements that are in breach of the forum's rules. Spammers utilize a number of illicit techniques to post their spam, including the use of botnets.

 Forum Structure

          User Groups

• Privileges and rights are given based on user groups. The privileged is set by the administrator. A person viewing a closed thread as a member will see a box saying he does not have the right to submit messages there, but a moderator will likely see the same box granting him access to more than just posting messages. An unregistered user of the site is commonly known as a guest or visitor. Guests are typically granted access to all functions that do not require database alterations or breach privacy. A guest can usually view the contents of the forum or use such features as read marking, but occasionally an administrator will disallow visitors to read their forum as an incentive to become a registered member. 
  
  
   Moderator   

• The moderators are users of the forum who are granted access to the posts and threads of all members for the purpose of moderating discussion and also keeping the forum clean. Have access to all posts and threads Moderators also answer users' concerns about the forum, general questions, as well as respond to specific complaints. They also can do anything to lend a helping hand to a user in need. Moderators themselves may have ranks: some may be given mod privileges over only a particular topic or section, while others (called 'global' or 'super') may be allowed access anywhere.
   
   Administrator  

• Manage the technical details required for running the site. As such, they may promote (and demote) members to moderators, manage the rules, create sections and sub-sections, as well as perform any database operations (database backup etc.). Administrators often also act as moderators. Administrators may also make forum-wide announcements, or change the appearance (known as the skin) of a forum. There are also many forums where administrators share their knowledge like Admin Forum.
  
  
  
  Post 

• A post is a user submitted message enclosed into a block containing the user's details and the date and time it was submitted. Members are usually allowed to edit or delete their own posts. Posts are contained in threads, where they appear as boxes one after another. The first post starts the thread; this may be called the TS (thread starter) or OP (original post).
   
  Thread  

• In online discussions, a series of messages that have been posted as replies to each other. A single forum or conference typically contains many threads covering different subjects. By reading each message in a thread, one after the other, you can see how the discussion has evolved. You can start a new thread by posting a message that is not a reply to an earlier message. In programming, a part of a program that can execute independently of other parts. Operating systems that support multitasking enable programmers to design programs whose threaded parts can execute concurrently.
  
  

  Common Features

  
  
  Private Message

• A private message, or PM for short, is a message sent in private from a member to one or more other members. The ability to send so-called carbon copies is sometimes available. When sending a carbon copy (cc), the users to whom the message is sent directly will not be aware of the recipients of the carbon copy or even if one was sent in the first place. Private messages are generally used for personal conversations. They can also be used with trip codes a message is addressed to a public trip and can be picked up by typing in the trip code. 

           Emoticon 

• An emoticon or smiley is a symbol or combination of symbols used to convey emotional content in written or message form. Forums implement a system through which some of the text representations of an emoticons (e.g. XD: p) are rendered as a small image. Depending on part the world the forum's topic originates (since most forums are international) smiles can be replaced by other forms of similar graphics, an example would be kaoani (e.g. *(^O^)*, (^-^) b), or even text between special symbols (e.g.: blink:  idea :).
  
  

  Wikis  

  A wiki is a website whose users can add, modify, or delete its content via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a rich-text editor. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often created collaboratively by multiple users. Examples include community websites, corporate intranets, knowledge management systems, and note taking. Wikis may serve many different purposes. Some permit control over different functions (levels of access). For example, editing rights may permit changing, adding or removing material. Others may permit access without enforcing access control. Other rules may also be imposed for organizing content.  

  way to edit wiki page:http://ondemand.blackboard.com/r91/movies/bb91_course_tools_edit_wiki_pages.htm 

  Podcasting 

  A podcast is a type of digital media consisting of an episodic series of files (either audio or video) subscribed to and downloaded through web syndication or streamed online to a computer or mobile device. The word is a neologism derived from "broadcast" and "pod" from the success of the iPod, as podcast are often listened to on portable media players.
  
  
  Podcasting in education  
  
  
  • One obvious use of podcasting in an educational context is to create an archive of class lectures that students can listen to at their convenience. As podcasting is relatively new, educators everywhere are still exploring the possibilities. 
   
   
                                 

  Second Life 

  Second Life is an online virtual world developed by Linden Lab. It was launched on June 23, 2003. A number of free client programs, or Viewers, enable Second Life users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars. Residents can explore the world (known as the grid), meet other residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, and create and trade virtual property and services with one another. Second Life is intended for people aged 16 and over. Through this feature Second Life can bring people, ideas, and subject matter together in a fuller representation of real human relationships.

   Second life in learning

  • Second Life is used as a platform for education by many institutions, such as colleges, universities, libraries and government entities. Instructors and researchers in Second Life favor it because it is more personal than traditional distance learning. Research has uncovered development, teaching and/or learning activities which use Second Life in over 80 percent of UK universities. New educational institutions have also emerged that operate exclusively within Second Life, taking advantage of the platform to deliver a high quality service to a world wide audience at low cost.

     Links for second life tutorial for the beginner:

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zAb4XxnVMM