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IU PROFESSOR TEACHES ELECTRONIC COMMERCE USING TECHNOLOGY THAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Using the same information technologies that enable companies to sell their goods anywhere in the world, an Indiana University professor taught an electronic commerce course to graduate business students concurrently in both Finland and the United States.
Brad Wheeler, IU assistant professor of information systems, put to use the latest in voice, video and data exchange technologies to teach 22 students in IU's Kelley School of Business and at the Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration in Finland.
The intensive three-week, three credit-hour course included sessions on the enabling technologies that make electronic commerce possible, as well as those on security and encryption, server mining, international taxation and regulation, and on-line shopping behavior.
During the first week of the course, Wheeler and students in the Kelley School gathered from 8 to 11 a.m. (CDT) each day, to meet with students on the other side of the world, in Finland, from 4 to 7 p.m. The two classrooms were connected by integrated services digital network (ISDN)-based video teleconferencing and the Internet. Each student had a desktop computer that was loaded with Lotus Notes and LearningSpace software.
After the first week, Wheeler flew to Finland to teach the next two weeks of the course from there. "From the course's inception, it was planned to be more than just a distant talking head on a television," Wheeler said.
"We have heard much about how the professor of the future will be 'less of a sage on the stage and more of a guide by their side'," he added. "This course was living proof of that, because essentially with direct Internet connection they had access to a world of resources. I became the guide to help them make sense out of it."
Course lecture notes, readings summaries, case questions and collaborative learning activities were all created in digital form in Lotus Notes. Interestingly, 80 percent of the course readings were popular media articles published in the last nine months, including articles from Byte, Business Week and Wired.
"I first taught this course in 1996," said Wheeler, who joined the IU faculty later that same year. "Even with examples I used just a semester ago, I have to check as to whether they are still technically relevant."
In many cases, students were directed to Internet sites to see what they were discussing. For example, after a lecture on the conflicting goals of manufacturers, vendors and consumers with regard to on-line catalogs, Wheeler directed students to two real-world, on-line catalogs so they could assess how these conflicting goals were playing out in the marketplace.
With a world of resources at the students' fingertips, they often took the role of knowledge producer, Wheeler said. They would point out a particular company's Web site or look up the definition of a technical term in real-time during the class. Interesting examples would sometimes change the course of the discussion as everyone followed along to a particular Internet site.
"There were two missions for the class. The first one was to build literacy and industry knowledge across a range of electronic commerce topics. The second objective was for each students to build deep expertise in one area," he said. "About one third of the students are graduating this summer. Many are already working on corporate projects in electronic commerce, either as interns or as new employees. The others likely will be involved either directly or indirectly when they take their jobs."
All assignments were submitted on-line. Participants had the ability to review and learn from other students' work, although access and timing were directed by Wheeler.
The students at both locations were very enthusiastic about the experience. Discussions promoted many interchanges regarding differing perspectives on privacy and regulatory issues between Europe and North America. Wheeler believes these international interactions were among the most valuable parts of the course.
"Some class discussions were extended to the on-line discussion forum while others -- such as, should Microsoft be regulated? -- were only discussed on-line, outside of class, between students. It was a challenge to manage the cameras and other technologies, while teaching and maintaining student engagement," Wheeler said.
"Inter-institutional courses hold great promise for internationalizing the business curriculum," he concluded, "and I look forward to teaching in similar situations in the future."
(George Vlahakis, 812-855-0846 or 812-855-3911, gvlahaki@indiana.edu)