Arts & humanities

Internet Commerce and Consumers

NET205

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Overview

Level of study: What does Undergraduate Level 2 mean?

Undergraduate Level 2

EFTSL: What does EFTSL mean?

0.125

Delivery Method: What does delivery method mean?

Fully Online

Availability: What is a Study period?

For enrolment (2012): For forward planning* (2013): What is Forward Planning?
  • -
  • SP2
  • -
  • -
* Subject to change

Duration:

13 weeks

Government loans available:

FEE-HELP FEE-HELP
HECS-HELP HECS-HELP

Fee: Fees (current and planned)

Domestic student fee:
$795.00 (AUD)
HECS student fee:
$706.00 (AUD)
International student fee:
$1,020.00 (AUD)

Description

To be an internet user is, essentially, to be part of the economics of the internet, through innumerable commercial transactions and by being part of audiences sold advertising. In this unit, you will come to understand the dynamics of internet commerce, including the 'free' services that are part of the attention economy; you will also analyse the importance for the internet of an alternative economic form - the gift economy. Ultimately, you will understand how the internet might, within capitalism, be associated with economic rewards and risks; and how developments on the internet have altered business practices and approaches.

Further Information:

Assessment schedule subject to minor alteration.

Prerequisites

Equivalent units

You cannot enrol in this unit if you have successfully completed any of the following unit(s) because they are considered academically equivalent:

  • NET25 — The Internet - Media Business

Recommended prerequisites

You are recommended to have completed the following unit(s) or have equivalent knowledge before starting this unit:

NET12 is the same as NET102 and NET11 is the same as WEB101.

Assessment

  • Assignment — Learning tasks and discussion (20%)
  • Assignment 2 — Online content creation (20%)
  • Essay 1 (20%)
  • Essay 2 (40%)

Learning Outcomes

At the completion of this unit students will be able to:

  1. demonstrate understanding of the principles and practices which sustain internet commerce
  2. analyse specific commercial events and occurrences to explain the nature of internet economics
  3. demonstrate understanding of the way in which capitalism dominates the social and technological workings of the internet in global society
  4. assess critically the culture and practices of 'free' online labour, goods and services associated with internet.

Topics

This unit addresses the following topics.

NumberTopic
1Introduction
2Internet Business Basics
3Online Collaboration
4Network Economy: It's All About Networking
5Attention Economy: Getting Eyeballs
6Amazon.com: The Online Shopping Mall
7eBay: Everything Has a Price
8Google: Don't Be Evil
9Facebook: Owning People
10Reviewing the Work of Others
11Digital Capitalism
12Free Economy
13Gift Economy

Study Resources

This unit is delivered using the following methods and materials:

Instructional Methods

  • Audio/Video conferencing
  • Blogs
  • Chat rooms
  • Discussion Forum/Discussion Board
  • Online assignment submission
  • Podcasting/Lecture capture
  • Standard Media
  • Streaming Multimedia
  • Web links
  • Wikis

Print based materials

  • Welcome Letter

Online materials

  • Audio/Video - Streaming
  • Online Assessment
  • Printable format materials
  • Resources and Links

Textbook information for this unit is currently being updated and will be available soon. Please check back regularly for updates. Alternatively, visit the Unibooks website and enter the unit details to search for available textbooks.

Relevant Courses

This unit is part of a major, minor, stream or specialisation in the following courses:

This unit is an approved elective in the following courses:

This unit may be eligible for credit towards other courses:

  1. Many undergraduate courses on offer through OUA include 'open elective' where any OUA unit can be credited to the course. You need to check the Award Requirements on the course page for the number of allowed open electives and any level limitations.
  2. In other cases, the content of this unit might be relevant to a course on offer through OUA or elsewhere. In order to receive credit for this unit in the course you will need to supply the provider institution with a copy of the Unit Profile in the approved format, which you can download here. Note that the Unit Profile is set at the start of the year, and if textbooks change this may not match the Unibooks textbook list.
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Sunday: Closed
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