How to Write an IT Essay

Introduction

In this explanation of IT essays we assume that you know how to write an essay, so we will not labour on the point of writing essays in general. This article is provided to assist you in presenting IT topics in your essay writing. It can be read in conjunction with other information on writing essays in general if you wish.

So What’s Different In IT Essays To Other Types Of Essay?

Writing Information Technology essays are similar to other types of essays, with the exception that you need to include all kinds of acronyms and unusual terms into the mix. A great number of terms within the IT world still do not exist in English or US dictionaries. For instance, the word “Googling” refers to someone typing a keyword or phrase into the Google search box, in order to find information on a particular topic.

Another difference when writing an IT essay is that you must consider your target audience. No, not your lecturer or professor but the target audience mentioned in the essay question or task! For example, suppose you are presented with a case study and the case study says in the task that you have to explain a technical concept to none IT based end users or people who are not “experts” in the technology you are to propose. This is designed to provide you with a clue as to what is required. In other words, it is testing your ability to word your essay or report in such a way that it explains the technological ideas in a simple manner, so that non-IT people will understand what you are trying to say.

However, the majority of essays will not be based on a case study and will simply ask you to explain something. In the straight forward IT essay case you need to ensure that your treat your lecturer as if they were an end user, but in this case with a degree of technical ability. However, if you think it fits the purpose then you should “spell it out” exactly what you mean when describing a technical idea. Describing programming code for example is best done with an example of an extract of the code, and a plain English description of what it does.

NEVER assume that the lecturer will know what you are talking about, unless it’s a well known and previously established idea which is now being expanded in more detail. If in doubt, spell it out! Play the role of the IT consultant in your mind. Your lecturer is your potential customer. You are trying to obtain that BIG IT contract which is worth a lot of money and will last for years, so make sure the potential buyer understands your ideas and will buy into them! Do not rush an IT essay if you can help it, but as with all deadlines ensure you commit to them.

When describing complexities such as computer networks, break down the explanation by using sentences stating one point, then the next, or bullet points. Another way to get a technical idea across quickly is to use diagrams and pictures. If you do provide a diagram, don’t assume the lecturer will know what the diagram is for. Explain it briefly, with a statement for example such as “This flow chart shows the logical tasks undertaken when processing bank statements.” If you use images ensure you also provide a similar explanation and figure numbers such as fig 1.0 fig 1.2 etc.

Presenting Programming Code

If you have to provide a section of code for review, ensure it is neatly indented and easily readable. The aim of illustrating programming code is to show the reader how to achieve a given task, or to explain it as support for another technical aspect. Therefore it helps to provide an explanation of the code. This is usually achieved without further explanation by placing suitable comments in the lines of the code. A neatly indented, commented piece of code makes it far easier to understand than a list of commands with no explanation. Remember, that your lecturer has to mark all your colleagues’ essays as well as yours so make it as readable and understandable as you can.

Glossary

In IT essays it helps to provide a glossary of terms. There are so many acronyms and new acronyms coming up all the time in IT so it helps to explain them. You can put them in an appendix at the end of the essay.

Referencing

The normal referencing rules apply, so ensure that everything in your essay is referenced and that credit is provided for any ideas you have researched and discovered for yourself. For example you can’t discuss the “Page Rank” algorithm that Google use and created without providing the credit to Sergey Brinn or Larry Page, the founders of Google. If you don’t provide credit and if anyone didn’t know better, they would assume you had created it yourself. In other words you are the founder of Google!

Research

IT is such a wide area that finding material is not usually difficult. There are thousands and thousands of books, journals, magazine articles all dedicated to the subject of IT. Finding information on what you want is not usually difficult in the IT arena, unless it is a relatively new idea, such as “Ultra Wideband”. However, finding the RIGHT kind of information is not always easy.

Don’t ever risk using Wikipedia for example as your main research material. Wikipedia is a very useful resource, but the information has been added by basically, anyone. It is not know to always have 100% accuracy so we don’t recommend it as your main research information. It’s okay to use Wikipedia to point you to other websites and reference material, but nothing else.

Also, remember that IT is a fast moving industry. What was valid yesterday may not be valid today. Always obtain the most reliable and up to date information.

Always research IT essays using the following points:

• Check the date on the material. Is it up to date?
• Is the source reliable? Has it been written by experts?
• Is the source bias in a certain area? For example, they may hate Microsoft! This could not provide a balanced view of things would it?
• If they provide code examples, do they work? Can you check?
• When checking out diagrams and images, look for alternative views of the same idea. Some diagrams are easier to understand than others.
• Try to use multiple sources rather than single sources for your information

Finally, whatever type of IT essay you have to write ensure you know exactly what you are trying to say and who you are saying it to. This may seem obvious to you, but the end reader, whoever they may be will need to be on the same page as you in the end, for maximum impact and higher marks!