Wireless networks – Computer Science
Using your laptop or smartphone, identify the wireless networks that are nearby and then submit a short written report that discusses your findings. At a minimum, answer the questions below:
What wireless networks did you find? (Feel free to diagram your findings as part of your report.)
Were they secure? How do you know? What steps would you take and/or recommend to secure a wireless network in a business environment?
If you are using a smartphone or tablet, feel free to download an app to look for WiFi networks and collect data. I have a WiFi analyzer app on my phone that allows me to screen shot scans/data and then send them to my work Inbox.
If you want to take your report a step further, test Fing (or similar) and find out what devices are using your WiFi. Please make sure that you “keep it legal”.
Your submission should utilize the course’s standard written report format and all references should be cited using APA style. For more information about this format and APA, please refer to Getting Started.
This cheat sheet has been developed by Kathleen Hyde, MSCIS, MBA for the purposes of providing students and others who are unfamiliar with report writing and references cited using APA style with “the basics”. It is not meant to be a definitive manual for report writing and references, as those familiar with APA style would attest. For additional assistance with references, please take a look at www.bibme.org or http://www.citationmachine.net/apa/cite-a-book. Those using this cheat sheet should always remember that the primary emphasis in any report should be CONTENT.
Overview
Report writing, while not simple, can be simplified. Starting with an outline, one can organize his/her thoughts before putting pen to paper, fingers to keyboard or speech to digital recorder. A basic outline begins with an introduction, continues with development of the content, and ends with a conclusion. With this in mind, our basic report format will consist of an introduction, body, conclusion and references.
The Parts
Introduction – The introduction in a report “introduces” the topic you are writing about to your audience. It is your one and only chance to entice others to continue reading your report beyond the first or second paragraph. In the introduction, you briefly must answer at least two questions:
1 What are you writing about?
2 Why are you writing about it?
At the end of your introduction, you will need to transition from the introduction to the body of the report. Keep in mind that this transition is extremely important because you want your audience to continue reading. After all, if your audience only reads the introduction, any research, exploration, tests and analysis or insights (a.k.a. CONTENT) that you conducted to write the report and draw conclusions will be in vain.
Body – Often referred to as the CONTENT, the body will comprise the majority of your report. In this section, you answer the questions you introduced earlier in greater detail. You attempt to educate your reader. You present your research. You explore the topic. You document your findings. You offer your analysis. You provide insights.
Depending on the topic of your report, the body may consist of multiple sections. If you find yourself struggling with how to put your thoughts into words, or your topic is so broad that a 3-5 page report is instead 20 pages long, you might want to create a quick outline of the body of the report, assuming you did not create an outline for the entire report. If you are exploring a topic, identify three to five main points that you wish to make. If you are conducting research or performing an experiment, identify the steps in the process and the results that you want or are required to include in the report. Don’t forget to consider adding screenshots, infographics, and tables to your body, if they will enhance or illustrate your written work.
Conclusion – The conclusion is the portion of your report that tells the reader what he/she should “learn” from your work. In other words, what should the reader remember a day or longer after he/she has read your report? If your report documents research you have conducted or experiments you have performed, the conclusion might also suggest additional research or questions that should be answered at some point in the future, after more research or experimentation…of course!
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