E-Commerce

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It is used to describe business that is conducted over the Internet using any of the applications that rely on the Internet, such as

   









 E-mail
 Instant messaging
 Shopping carts
Web services
 FTP
 EDI (electronic data interchange), among others.

Electronic commerce can be between two businesses transmitting funds, goods, services and/or data or between a business and a customer.

Includes:

          Online business to business transactions

        Online business to consumer transactions

        Digital delivery of products and services

        Online merchandising

        Automated telephone transactions eg phone banking  

E-E-commerce can be divided into:

•       E-tailing or "virtual storefronts" on Web sites with online catalogs, sometimes gathered into a "virtual mall“
•       The gathering and use of demographic data through Web contacts
•       EDI, the business-to-business exchange of data
•       E-mail and fax and their use as media for reaching prospects and established customers (for example, with newsletters)
•       Business-to-business buying and selling
•       The security of business transactions

Examples of Ecommerce

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      Online Shopping Buying and selling goods on the Internet is one of the most popular examples of ecommerce. Sellers create storefronts that are the online equivalents of retail outlets. Buyers browse and purchase products with mouse clicks.

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      Electronic Payments
When buying goods online, there needs to be a mechanism to pay online too. Electronic payments reduce the inefficiency associated with writing and mailing checks.

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           Online Auctions

When you think online auction, you think eBay. Physical auctions predate online auctions, but the Internet made auctions accessible to a large number of buyers and sellers. Online auctions are an efficient mechanism for price discovery.

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Internet Banking
Today it is possible for you to perform the entire gamut of banking operations without visiting a physical bank branch. Interfacing of websites with bank accounts, and by extension credit cards, was the biggest driver of ecommerce.

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Online Ticketing
Air tickets, movie tickets, train tickets, play tickets, tickets to sporting events, and just about any kind of tickets can be booked online. Online ticketing does away with the need to queue up at ticket counters.

Types of Ecommerce

Ecommerce can be classified based on the type of participants in the transaction:

Business to Business (B2B)

B2B ecommerce transactions are those where both the transacting parties are businesses, e.g., manufacturers, traders, retailers and the like.

Business to Consumer (B2C)

When businesses sell electronically to end-consumers, it is called B2C ecommerce.

Consumer to Consumer (C2C)
Some of the earliest transactions in the global economic system involved barter - a type of C2C transaction. But C2C transactions were virtually non-existent in recent times until the advent of ecommerce. Auction sites are a good example of C2C ecommerce.

Advantages of Ecommerce

1. Overcome Geographical Limitations

If you have a physical store, you are limited by the geographical area that you can service. With an ecommerce website, the whole world is your playground. Additionally, the advent of mobile commerce (mcommerce), i.e., ecommerce on mobile devices, has dissolved every remaining limitation of geography.

2. Gain New Customers With Search Engine Visibility

It is not unusual for customers to follow a link in search engine results, and land up on an ecommerce website that they have never heard of. This additional source of traffic can be the tipping point for some ecommerce businesses.

3. Lower Costs

One of the most tangible positives of ecommerce is the lowered cost.. Here are some of the ways that costs can be reduced with ecommerce:

Advertising and Marketing

Personnel          

4. Locate the Product Quicker

On an ecommerce website, customers can use a search box to immediately narrow down their product search.

5. Eliminate Travel Time and Cost

It is not unusual for customers to travel long distances to reach their preferred physical store. Ecommerce allows them to visit the same store virtually, with a few mouse clicks.

6. Provide Comparison Shopping

Ecommerce facilitates comparison shopping. There are several online services that allow customers to browse multiple ecommerce merchants and find the best prices.

7. Enable Deals, Bargains, Coupons, and Group Buying

Though there are physical equivalents to deals, bargains, coupons, and group buying, online shopping makes it much more convenient. The customer could do that online with a few mouse-clicks.

8. Provide Abundant Information

There are limitations to the amount of information that can be displayed in a physical store. Ecommerce websites can make additional information easily available to customers. Most of this information is provided by vendors, and does not cost anything to create or maintain.

Disadvantages of Ecommerce

1. Ecommerce Lacks That Personal Touch
Not that all physical retailers have a personal approach. As a result, shopping at those retail outlets is reassuring and refreshing.

2. Ecommerce Delays Goods
Not all the physical thing can buy at ecommerce website. For example, buy a pen because need to write something right now, you cannot buy it off an ecommerce website.

3. Anyone Can Set Up an Ecommerce Website
anyone can set up a basic store in under 10 minutes.
The lowered barriers to entry might be a great attraction to the aspiring ecommerce entrepreneur. But for the buyer, reliability can be an issue.

4. Security
When making an online purchase, the buyer have to provide at least credit card information and mailing address. In many cases, ecommerce websites are able to harvest other information about online behavior and preferences.

5. Many Goods Cannot Be Purchased Online
There are goods that cannot buy online. Most of these would be in the categories of "perishable" or "odd-sized."  For example: an ice pop / ice lolly or a dining table set.

6. Ecommerce Does Not Allow You to Experience the Product Before Purchase
You cannot touch the fabric of the garment you want to buy. You cannot check how the shoe feels on your feet. You cannot "test" the perfume that you want to buy.

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.

Must have personal Internet access - must register with the institution for the service, and set up some password (under various names) for customer verification.

An Internet banking customer accesses accounts from a browser— software that runs Internet banking programs resident on the bank’s World Wide Web server.

Provides account balances and some transactional capabilities to retail customers over the World Wide Web. Internet banks are also known as virtual, cyber, net, interactive, or web banks.

The common features:

◦       viewing account balances

◦       viewing recent transactions

◦       downloading bank statements, for example in PDF format

◦       viewing images of paid cheques

◦       ordering cheque books

◦       Funds transfers between the customer's linked accounts

◦       Paying third parties, including bill

◦       Investment purchase or sale

◦       Loan applications and transactions, such as repayments of enrollments

◦       Financial institution administration

◦       Management of multiple users having varying levels of authority

◦       Transaction approval process

 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.

There are several ways to help ensure safe transactions on the Internet:

}  Stored-value cards (cards that you can buy with specified, loaded dollar amounts)

}  Smart cards (cards that can act as credit cards, debit cards and/or stored-value cards)

}  Point-of-sale (POS) devices (PDA or mobile phone)

}  Digital cash

}  E-wallets

}  Online payment services like PayPal

The following list provides some tips on how to make sure your transaction is secure:

1.       Use the latest Internet browser.

2.       Look for digital certificates - independent services like VeriSign will authenticate the identity of the Web site you are visiting. Web sites that use this service (usually those that sell items or services online) will have the VeriSign logo.

3.       Read the privacy policy - make sure you read the company's privacy policy to ensure that your personal information won't be sold to others.

4.       Only use one credit card for all of your online purchases.

5.       Never give out passwords or user ID information online unless you know who you are dealing with and why they need it.

6.       Keep records of all of your Internet transactions.

7.       After you've made purchases online, check your e-mail - merchants often send confirmation e-mails or other communications about your order.

8.       Not sharing passwords with any other person.

Enterprise wide technologies and 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

• Equivalent to traditional bulletin board and a technological evolution of the dialup bulletin board system
• People participating in an Internet forum may cultivate social bonds and interest groups for a topic made from the discussions.
• Most Online forums require registration to post.

                Troll

• Is a user that repeatedly and intentionally breaches netiquette, often posting derogatory or otherwise inflammatory messages about sensitive topics in an established online community to bait users into responding, often starting flame wars

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 which sometimes has malicious intent.

                    

User groups

• Privileges and rights are given based on user groups. The privileged is set by the administrator.
• 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. Common privileges of moderators include: deleting, merging, moving, and splitting of posts and threads, locking, renaming of threads, banning, suspending, unsuspending, unbanning, warning the members, or adding, editing, removing the polls of threads.

Administrator

• The administrators manage the technical details required for running the site.
• Promote members to moderators, manage the rules, create sections and sub-sections, as well as perform any database operations.
• Administrators often also act as moderators.

Thread

• A thread (sometimes called a topic) is a collection of posts, usually displayed – by default – from oldest to latest, although this is typically configurable:
• A thread is defined by a title, an additional description that may summarize the intended discussion, and an opening or original post (common abbreviation 'OP', which can also mean original poster) which opens whatever dialogue or makes whatever announcement the poster wished. A thread can contain any number of posts, including multiple posts from the same members, even if they are one after the other.

Private message

• A private message, or PM for short, is a message sent in private from a member to one or more other members.
• Private messages are generally used for personal conversations.

Emoticon

• 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) smilies can be replaced by other forms of similar graphics, (e.g. *(^O^)*, (^-^)b).

• A wiki invites all users to edit any page or to create new pages within the wiki Web site, using only a plain-vanilla Web browser without any extra add-ons.
• Wiki promotes meaningful topic associations between different pages by making page link creation almost intuitively easy and showing whether an intended target page exists or not.
• A wiki is not a carefully crafted site for casual visitors. Instead, it seeks to involve the visitor in an ongoing process of creation and collaboration that constantly changes the Web site landscape.

Editing wiki pages

• Ordinarily, the structure and formatting of wiki pages are specified with a simplified markup language, sometimes known as "wiki text".
• The style and syntax of wiki texts can vary greatly among wiki implementations, some of which also allow HTML tags.
• Wikis therefore favor plain text editing, with fewer and simpler conventions than HTML, for indicating style and structure
• Clicking “Edit” link, the script sends the raw text file to your browser in an editable form, allowing you to modify the content of the page.
• Pressing the “Save” button sends the modified text back to the wiki server, which replaces the existing text file with your changed version for all to see.
• Offer powerful yet flexible collaborative communication tool for developing content-specific Web sites.
• Because wikis grow and evolve as a direct result of people adding material to the site, they can address a variety of pedagogical needs—student involvement, group activities, and so on.
• It is easiest and most effective Web-based collaboration tool in any instructional portfolio.
• Provides direct (and immediate) access to a site’s content, which is crucial in group editing or other collaborative project activities.
• These collaborative projects help promote “pride of authorship” and ownership in the team’s activities.
• In addition, wikis are being used as e-portfolios, illustrating their utility as a tool for collection and reflection.
• It can be used to collaborate on projects, whether editing a textbook, preparing a journal article, or assembling a syllabus or reading list.
• Wiki enabled projects can provide various levels of site access and control to team members, offering a fine-tuning element that enhances the teaching and learning experience.

Podcasting

• A podcast is a series of digital media files (either audio or video) that are released episodically and downloaded through web syndication.
• Podcasting is a method of publishing audio files (usually MP3s) to the Web, which are then made available through subscription and automatically downloaded to a personal computer or portable MP3 player.
• The mode of delivery differentiates podcasting from other means of accessing media files over the Internet, such as direct download, or streamed web-casting
• Commonly used audio file formats are OggVorbis and MP3
• A list of all the audio or video files currently associated with a given series is maintained centrally on the distributor's server as a web feed, and the listener or viewer employs special client application software known as a pod catcher that can access this web feed, check it for updates, and download any new files in the series.

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.

Podcasting could be used for:

                • news/updates;

                • guest lectures;

                • student presentations;

                • student-produced podcasts;

                • interviews with guest experts;

                • tours/fieldwork;

                • internships/residencies;

                • feedback/evaluation of student work;

                • supplementary material such as speeches, music, or other audio recordings; and

                • short language lessons, or other lessons that help students develop listening and speaking skills.

 Issues

• Podcasting involves a shift from e-learning to m-learning.
• E-learning, or electronic learning, refers to any computer-based learning that enables students to access and make use of course materials at a distance and at their convenience.
• M-learning, or mobile learning, capitalizes on the increasing ubiquity of wireless networks and devices such as laptops, PDAs, wireless phones, MP3 players, and of course, iPods.
• While podcasting does not require an iPod or other MP3 player, podcasts are usually listened to on devices that are easily portable.
•  Podcasting is a time-shifting technology. Learners can download an audio file to a portable device and listen to it at their convenience.
• The mobility and time shifting afforded by podcasting enables learners and instructors to expand the boundaries of the classroom and bring together course content and the world outside the campus.
• In an educational context, instructors might create guided audio tours for field trips, or perhaps commentary or instructions for an internship or residency. Conversely, students can create podcasts to report their observations or conduct interviews.
•  “Push” technology is an essential feature. In other words, podcasting does not only make audio files available to students; it makes audio files available automatically via subscription.
• The “push” feature suggests potential uses such as news updates from departments or course updates from the instructor. A question to consider is whether automated distribution of course content is advantageous or necessary.

Things to be considered:

• The reasonable expectations of students and how they make use of their time. For example, requiring students to listen to recorded lectures too frequently may be more of a burden than help.
• Long recordings such as lectures may work better as a supplement students who want to refresh their knowledge of course content.
• Since podcasts are portable and facilitate mobile learning, you also might consider whether it is best to create shorter podcasts that can be listened to during moments of downtime, or a longer podcast that requires a longer time commitment and more focused concentration.
• Podcasting raises copyright issues. The creation of content raises copyright issues that are often complex and can involve considerations of University policies, federal statutes, and consultations with experts.
•  See http://dmc.umn.edu/IP/ for help.

• In Second Life participants use avatars, virtual selves that reflect the creators’ personalities, to interact with one another within the online environment.
• A free client program called the Second Life Viewer enables its users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars.
• Residents can explore, meet other residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, and create and trade virtual property and services with one another, or travel throughout the world
• Through this feature Second Life can bring people, ideas, and subject matter together in a fuller representation of real human relationships.
• Second Life enhances social presence that can support collaborative online activities and enrich interpersonal understanding among their participants.
• In terms of educational practice, this virtual world allows for a re-imagining of the classroom as one that meets the new needs of online instruction while providing students with a sense of belonging to a learning community.
• For example, Second Life allows for online interactions that mimic the face-to-face conversations of the campus classroom while minimizing the formality that usually prevails in academic discussion forums.
• The flexibility of Second Life also makes it an ideal vehicle for constructional pedagogy.
• In Second Life entirely new communities can be created by the participants, allowing for the power of human relationships to be integrated more freely in the learning process.
• Using Second Life as a virtual-learning community as opposed to merely a virtual-learning environment focuses attention on relationships, growth, and development (Cooper 2003).
• Building relationships with students in this fashion leads to greater communication as well as "reflection and self-discovery, which is absolutely necessary for building a learning community" (Robbins 2006, 38).

Education

• 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.