Swinburne University: ICT30005 Reflective Journal - IT Professionalism

This reflective journal delves into the author's experiences and learning in the ICT30005 Professional Issues in IT course at Swinburne University. It covers topics such as the importance of interpersonal skills, the behaviors expected of ICT professionals working in diverse teams, and the key roles and responsibilities of modern ICT professionals. The journal also reflects on the impact of the course on the author's induction into the ICT profession, highlighting the didactic possibilities of ICT and the development of communication skills. Furthermore, it discusses the professional development of ICT professionals in Australia, the role of standards and codes of conduct, and the significance of the communication and ICT sector to organizations, emphasizing the importance of ethics and continuous learning in the field. The document is available on Desklib, a platform offering study tools and resources for students.

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Reflective Essay
Name:
Course
Professor’s name
University name
City, State
Date of submission

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PART A
A)
My goal in enrolling for the PIIT degree was to improve how I relate with employees
and clients. Interpersonal skill are the first thing that a manager will notice about a person in the
IT field. This is both during the initial phone interview and also during the subsequent in person
interviews (Dolezel and Morrison, 2017). I have realized that the course enables an IT
professional like me to know what is expected of you in the field of It. For example, the ability to
make an appropriate eye contact, a smile and give a good handshake are some of the skills that
have been impacted on those who have studied this course (Lang, et al, 2018).
Moreover, this course enables ICT professionals like me to teach the younger generation
on the efficiency and productivity of the use of ICT resources and resources has far outstripped
their teachers-mentors. Today it has become common that schoolchildren, and sometimes even
advanced preschoolers themselves often teach their parents, grandparents, teachers "wisdom" in
the development of ICT (Mishra, Boynton and Mishra, 2014). ICT became indispensable for
interpersonal communication of the younger generation in social networks. It is impossible today
to imagine a child, especially a teenager - a resident of an urban settlement, without a mobile
phone or tablet, without contact with his remote (by access), but informal, social environment.
Without electricity and without a working receiving device (telephone), if it is impossible to
access the Internet, the "civilizational life" of modern youth "ceases". This is what is also known
as mentoring the young ones in the society.

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I took up this course having in mind that my goals is to work for and improve the society by
offering mentorship to those who want to be mentored and also provide me with skills on how to
handle myself at the workplace.
B)What kinds of behaviours might be important for an ICT professional working in a
group or team with members from a wide variety of different backgrounds.
There are required behaviors that an ICT professional is expected to adhere to while
working with other people who have different backgrounds. Almost every professional has a
code of ethics, this code gives guidelines to its members on the behaviors expected of them in
their professions. In the ICT industry, there are professional codes of conduct that guide the
However, ICTs play an important role in ensuring the activities of public associations. First and
foremost, this is an opportunity to promptly inform members of public associations about its
activities, to solve the organization's statutory tasks and conduct various events by posting
information on the website and in social networks; use of ICT in electronic document
management (EDI System) with territorial authorities individual in their practice (Ocasio and
Nigam, 2015).
The following are the behaviors expected from a ICT professional; the professional must
advance and uphold the honor, effectiveness and dignity of the professional of ICT and keep the
highest expected standard of competence and ethical conduct. They are also expected to act with
integrity and professional responsibility when dealing with their clients and workmates. An ICT
professional is expected to place the interest of the community above his or those of sectional
interests. He is also supposed to work diligently and competently for employer and clients.
Another behavior expected is that an ICT professional is supposed to honestly represent his skills

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and knowledge. He is also expected to strive to enhance the quality of life of those affected by
his work. Preserving confidentiality of clients or employers information is also another behavior
expected from an ICT professional. In the company that I was working in , we were several
members in the team that I was interacting with. The diverse team consisted of members who
were older than me and some who were younger, some were of different religions and gender
hence this called for a sober way of dealing with them because people are different and have
different temperaments (National Society of Genetic Counselors, 2018). Besides the code of
ethics that we as ICT professionals are supposed to adhere to, we must have other qualities that
enable us to work well in teams. Some of the behaviors that pushed me to work well with my co
workers is that I was a supportive person and always showed respect to my fellow worker. I
always kept my team informed and I was responsible and ready to help my co workers.
key professional roles and responsibilities for a modern ICT Professional? How might these
affect you in your future work?.
A modern ICT professional is responsible for protecting systems , infrastructure and networks
for an organization. The professional protects computer systems by creating barriers that deter
any access to them. They also analyze and identify problems within systems by checking on any
uncharacteristic activity. They review current situations with the security of the network and
carry out audits. The ICT professional is expected to implement improvements where needed
and keep the clients informed on a regular basis about the status of the system security.
In future this can affect me as a professional in the following way; the advancement of security
breaches i.e how security of a system can be compromised calls for an ICT professional to be

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prepared and advance their skills at all times. They should also know the ways in which the
hackers are evolving their skills to infiltrate a system.
How might having taken this unit improved your induction into the ICT profession?
Didactic possibilities of ICT are studied and described in detail. It should be noted that the
general-democratic teaching methods organically include the use of information and
communication technologies. The following methods are suitable for interaction between the
teacher and students: a method of transferring new knowledge (Meiring, et al, 2016). This model
is based on digital educational resources on the Internet that facilitate mass access to educational
materials, regardless of temporal and spatial limitations.
The disadvantage of this method is that the student is a passive recipient of information; method
of working out and fixing skills and abilities. The use of information and communication
technologies in this method of education allows the formation of a reusable fund of educational
resources, regularly use feedback, which increases the degree of mastering the necessary
material. With the systematic application of the method of testing and consolidating skills and
abilities, the potential of ICT is fully revealed, the role of the teacher changes. The limited nature
of this method can consist in insufficient information competence of the teacher;
The method of developing new knowledge is based on the experience of using information and
communication technologies of the above models. With this method, students must
independently build a strategy for solving learning problems, critically assess information,
analyze
PART B

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Communication skills in ICT
Communication Skills are vital to any professional, in this course, one of the topics that we have
learnt is communication skills to an ICT professional. On my part , I can say that this course has
has provided me with skills that increase my employability quotient. The role of communication
is so influential in the ICT sector because it has give me the ability to listen , analyse and put
across the right message that is suitable for those that I am addressing. As a consultant, the way
you address your clients is sure to give one an edge over other professionals in the industry. I
can now be able to take up leadership roles and steer a team to greater heights because of my
communication abilities.
Considering all the communications that I have had before with clients prior to learning this
course , I can confidently say that the good communication skills that I have learnt to
communicate effectively in my day to day work. I have gained the ability to understand the
requirements of the client ( which is mostly communicated through layman language ) and know
their thinking. I have also gained the ability to be patient and diplomatic with clients especially
when I am trying to explain myself in technical terms. This goes a long way to ensure that the
client or my audience is satisfied with my explanation. Communications skills learnt in this
course have enabled me to have a long lasting business association with the clients.
Professional development of ICT professionals
In Australia, the ACS classifies its membership in terms of capability, skills and knowledge.
Considering this, it seems that an ICT professional must continually possess and use facts , skills
and information to perform a task (Umashankar and Charitra, 2016).And therefore, professionals

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must first acquire information, facts and skills and continually possess the facts in what is known
as initial professional development and continuing professional development in ICT. However,
in the UK, when a professional acquires a level of capability that can enable them to operate
autonomously, the professional body in the country recognizes the professional based on the fact
that they have completed the Initial Professional Development Forum (Schmitt, N., 2014).
However, the ACS requires a professional to first have completed a course in the ICT sector that
encompasses the bodies core knowledge plus four years of experience. This allows an applicant
to use the postnominal MACS ( member of the ACS). This indicates that the individual is
recognized as a certified professional by the body. To maintain the certification a member must
complete over 30 hours of professional development annually. This development enables the
ICT practitioner to horn their skills and improve their skills on any advancement of technology
in the sector (Thomas, Burmeister and Low, 2017).
role of standards, codes of conduct and legislative/regulatory obligations on the level of
professionalism of the ICT industry
In recent times people working in the ICT sector have been found guilty of theft, corruption,
hacking and other forms of professional misconduct. As the ICT sector continues to play
important roles in our lives, people have started worrying about their data and other concerns.
Code of ethics offers a benchmark for the ICT practitioner and its members on how they should
act. There are six principles that must be adhered to in this sector; these are, professional
development , competence, honesty , professionalism and enhancement of quality of life
(DuBrin, 2014).

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The principles require practitioners to uphold standards of competence, honesty and practice and
also challenge inappropriate use of technology. This code of ethics requires ICT practitioners to
consider the implications and consequences of their actions and the consequences on customers,
staff and others. Ethics in ICT should fill the void where there is a lacuna in legislation and
protect all stakeholders in the sector (Modaff, Butler and DeWine, 2016).
Role of the communication and ICT sector to the organizations
The development of the ICT sector has facilitated the mass emergence of information products
and services, which, in turn, led to the formation of an information market. The following sectors
are part of the Australian information market: the market for information and communication
technologies (ICT); market of information products and services; market of software products;
market of telecommunications and communication facilities; market of information technology
(Leicester, 2016) . This structure of the information market fully corresponds to the types of
activities included in the ICT sector in accordance with the laws. In the process of regulating
public reproduction, the domestic market of the ICT sector performs several functions:
informational - dissemination of information about market participants, demand, supply, etc .;
intermediary - providing an opportunity for interaction between market participants; stimulation
of effective management and rational use of resources; establishing the correspondence between
production and consumption of the relevant types of goods and services; sanitation - ensuring the
purification of the market from uncompetitive competitors through competition.
Features of the national information market are: lack of stability; heterogeneity of development
in the context of the regions of the country; weak development of the private consumption of

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ICT goods and services; the refusal of the state to operate in the information market as a
producer; low information and legal culture of society as a whole, etc.
At present, the analysis of the development of the ICT sector is made on the following
indicators: the number of organizations in the sector; gross added value created in the ICT sector;
turnover of organizations; production of goods related to ICT; the volume of investments in fixed
assets and intangible assets; volume of foreign investments; specific weight of profitable /
unprofitable organizations; number and qualification structure of employees; cost and structures
of fixed assets and current assets; number of organizations engaged in research and development;
research and development costs; the volume of export / import of goods and services related to
ICT (Koprowska, 2014) .
The role of communication is so critical in the ICT sector for a practitioner because it gives
them the ability to listen , analyse and put across the right message that can be easily understood
by the clients. As a consultant, the way you address your clients is sure to give one an edge over
other professionals in the industry (Friedrich, Griffith and Mumford, 2016). I can now be able
to take up leadership roles and steer a team to greater heights because of my communication
abilities.

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References
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