Computers and Management Information Systems (CMIS) 311

Supporting End-User Computing (Revision 6)

Delivery Mode:

Credits:

Area of Study:

Applied Studies (Business & Administrative Studies)

Prerequisites:

None. Students are expected to have experience using Microsoft Office products before starting this course. Those wishing to upgrade their Office skills may take CMIS 245 instead. Some basic knowledge of either HTML or the use of an online web-building tool is required for Assignment 1. Tutorials on basic web page creation using HTML are provided. Business program students: This course does not meet the prerequisite requirement for CMIS 351; see CMIS245. Contact an advisor for assistance in determining prerequisite eligibility.

Precluded:

None

Challenge:

CMIS 311 has a Challenge for Credit option.

Faculty:

Faculty of Business

Status:

Open

Notes:

You must have a version of Microsoft Office that contains all of the programs you will be using in this course: Word, PowerPoint, and Excel (Office 365, Office 2013 or older).

Outline

Unit 1 – Skills for End-User Support

Section 1 – Introduction to User Support
Section 2 – Customer Service Skills
Section 3 – Writing for End Users
Section 4 - Troubleshooting Computer Problems
Section 5 – Common Support Problems

Unit 2 – Managing End-User Support

Section 1 – Help Desk Operation
Section 2 – User Support Management
Section 3 – Product Evaluation
Section 4 – Analyzing User Needs

Unit 3 – Organizational Needs of End-User Computing

Section 1 - Installing and Managing End-User Systems
Section 2 – Training Users
Section 3 – User Support Utilities

Evaluation

To receive credit for CMIS 311, you must complete all assignments and achieve an overall course grade of at least a D (50 percent). If it is necessary to improve your course mark, you may resubmit assignments for which you have received less than 50 percent. There are no examinations in this course. Weighting of each component is as follows:

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.

Activity	Weight
Assignment 1: Project	25%
Assignment 2: Project 2	25%
Assignment 3: Project 3	25%
Assignment 4: Portfolio	25%
Total	100%

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.

Materials

Beisse, F. (2015). A guide to computer user support for help desk and support specialists (6^th ed.). Boston: Course Technology, Cengage Learning. ISBN: 9781285852683 (eText)

eText

Registration in this course includes an electronic textbook. For more information on electronic textbooks, please refer to our eText Initiative site.

Other Resources

All other learning resources will be available online.

Special Course Features

This course and the learning activities within it have been designed specifically for use with a version of Microsoft Office that contains all of the programs you will be using in this course: Word, PowerPoint, and Excel (Office 365, Office 2013 or older).

As an AU student, you can purchase the software at a special student price. To download the software, go to: http://itss.athabascau.ca/students/docs/software.html

Next deadline:

Register by to start by

Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized-study counterparts.

Opened in Revision 6, March 6, 2015

Updated July 15, 2021, by Student & Academic Services

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