Business Students as End-User Developers

In this chapter, the introduction of “real-life” scenarios to undergraduate business students to enhance their understanding of end-user development of databases is investigated. The problems experienced with end-user development due to incomplete information, incorrect design procedures, and inadequate software knowledge are identified. It is the hope of the author that by identifying the design issue relevant to good database production and using “real-life” case studies as insight into how businesses use and store data, the students will be more aware of good practice for their future employment.

Tracking through Information Technology Education

With a projected 2.26 million additional jobs to fill in various computer fields by the year 2010, there are and will continue to be ample job opportunities in the computer industry. However, the computer field is far too broad for one individual to be an expert in the entire field. Therefore, it may be more useful for students to have the opportunity to concentrate their studies in a specific interest area within a broader information technology degree. This chapter discusses the creation of a database track within an Information Technology (IT) or Computer Information Systems (CIS) degree program so that undergraduate students can choose to focus on this specialty area in their junior and senior years.

S3

Many elderly people (age of 60+) are keen on getting familiar with the Internet. At the same time, end-user training gets more and more important for IT management. Therefore, we implemented a graduate Information Systems course, where students have to design, organize, manage, and run a training session, where elderly people can see and try using the Internet. The students learned to design a teaching curriculum and teaching materials, to set up and maintain the technical infrastructure, to organize end-user training, and, most importantly, to teach and to train end-users.

Training in Remote Database Server Administration

This chapter introduces the development of a Unix Lab at the Department of Information Systems at California State University, Los Angeles. It also describes the lab’s impact on our curriculum and the future plans for the inclusion of remote access and wireless technology.

Belief, Inquiry, Argument and Reflection as Significant Issues in Learning about Information Systems Development Methodologies

This chapter examines some of the issues that are driving the development of a master’s course designated as “Information Systems Development Methodologies.” The course takes a “reality as a social construct” view of the world, the purpose of the approach being to encourage students to challenge assumptions and enhance their abilities to research, reflect, critique, and develop strong arguments to support their understanding of the subject area. An interpretive approach such as this can challenge those students whose experiences of previous educational settings have been more strongly oriented toward rote or positivistic teaching and learning styles. The chapter outlines a number of approaches that have been adopted to help students deal with interpretive approaches to learning and to introduce them to issues of belief, inquiry, argument, and reflection.

How Do IT Students Stay Up to Date with Employers' Skill Requirements

The information technology industry is subject to rapid change. There have been concerns expressed in the literature about the ability of information technology professionals to keep up to date with developments, and it is likely that it is even more difficult for students to do so. New graduates require marketable skills in order to gain good employment, but the skills most in demand change regularly. This chapter reports on a project that investigated the channels of information that undergraduate and postgraduate telecommunications management and electronic commerce students use to keep up to date with employers’ needs. The role of instructors in this process is also discussed.

A Comparison Between the Use of IT in Business and Education

Since the mid-1990s, there have been many claims that the Web has become the new paradigm for teaching. However, most academics do not use the Web as a replacement for teaching, but to provide extra benefits for their students. There is a strong parallel between this use of the Internet for teaching, and the use of IT in business for providing added-value products or administrative efficiencies. In this chapter, the similarities between the use of IT in business and education are discussed, and the categorization of aspects of Web use in education using standard business categories relating to savings and quality are explored. The results are obtained from a survey of academics conducted internationally using the Web, and it surveys perceptions of benefits gained from supplementing teaching with Web-based services. The results revealed similar usage levels of Administrative and Educational Features to aid tertiary education on the Internet. The administrative uses showed slightly more benefits for the institution than for students and vice-versa for educational uses. In both types of uses, their adoption seemed to be based upon how difficult the feature was to set up as well as the added-value benefits it provided. An analysis of the correlation of the benefits identified for institution and students showed a correspondence between most of the uses, with a few interesting differences.

On-Line Case Discussion

Over the past several years, a number of research studies have investigated the application of Internet technologies to the classroom. Most of the research focus on asynchronous technology such as newsgroups or Web sites, or on GSS. No research investigates the possibility of conducting on-line case discussion. As case discussion in the classroom is a key pedagogical method in an executive program, our research examines a methodology for on-line case discussion. In this chapter, the results of an experiment conducted in an executive MBA program to investigate the use of on-line case discussion is presented. First, other research to determine the distinguishing characteristics of case discussion is reviewed. Then, the pedagogical context for the experiment is provided, and the experimental method is described. Finally, the results of a satisfaction questionnaire completed by the participants in the experiment are presented. Suggestions for further research and experiments are also discussed.

An Examination of ICT Planning Maturity in Schools

Information and communication technology (ICT) has the potential to revolutionize teaching and learning as well as school administration, yet little is known about the maturity of ICT planning in schools and the manner in which schools plan for the acquisition and use of these technologies in the educational environment. However, as school investments in ICT increase and they become more reliant on ICT, effective planning becomes more central to schools’ ability to maximize their use of technology. This research examines ICT planning in schools and proposes a four-stage model of the evolution of ICT planning maturity in schools. The model emerges from case studies conducted in eight New Zealand primary schools and provides insight into the nature of ICT planning in schools and the factors that contribute to planning maturity.

Information Management in Public Sector Agencies

Managerial responsibilities for information technology (IT) have, increasingly, been consolidated in the person of the “chief information officer” (CIO). Despite the increased prevalence of the CIO position, no one model has emerged that explains what can realistically be expected of the CIO in various organizational contexts. This is particularly true of the public-sector CIO. In this chapter, insight into the problems, challenges, and requisite competencies for public-sector CIOs is provided. The conceptual framework of CIO competence presented here is multidimensional and interdisciplinary in nature. In the chapter, the importance of considering the contextual setting in which CIOs operate in understanding the competencies he or she deems critical to the CIO role is illustrated. The competencies deemed critical by CIOs with differing perceptions of the role of IT, as well as those deemed critical by CIOs managing different size IT units, are contrasted. The discussion should inform academicians developing IT management curricula and practitioners engaged in CIO search and development activities.