Karen Randall
I am a Business Information Systems lecturer in the Accounting Department at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. I am currently teaching Business Information Systems to first year and third year students. We offer three diplomas namely the Accounting Diploma, Internal Auditing and Cost and Management Accounting Diploma. We have been offering all these diplomas on Cape Town, Bellville and Wellington Campuses. I have 143 students registered for BIS2 on the Bellville Campus. Our intake of students is overwhelming from areas outside the Western Cape. Their prior knowledge and exposure to technology varies from a few who knows a little to an overwhelming majority who knows nothing. This is initially very daunting but it is our reality.
Business information systems 1 is a year course offered to students in the first year and Business information systems 2 is offered in their third year. In this subject you will continue with advanced computer concepts and be introduced to additional software programs related to their relevant field of study. Students are taught various software programs such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, Pastel, SAP, Risk Suite Management Tracker, Visio etc. Our students spend the majority of the time being trained in Excel as this programme is more suited to their Core curriculum.
My focus is purely to convey the Accounting content. It thus becomes incumbent on me to find the appropriate Technology tools that would make the content as intuitive as possible. I have witnessed how my students have blossomed and grown and become efficient and effective users of technology in their workplaces. Technology have opened doors to them in industry and transformed many of their lives for the better. Emerging technology are tools which enable and bring about transformation.
The use of technology in education increases access to learning opportunities and in the 21st century the integration of emerging technology in higher education is inevitable. Academia are inclined to train students generically but need to conversant with the demands of industry and what training is required for current job market. I am currently using Blackboard 9.1 LMS but would like to use it optimally and investigate its full potential. I ensure that l my subject guide, weekly work scheme, case studies and tutorials are all loaded on Blackboard. Students hand in weekly Assignment tasks on Blackboard and often give them short Assessments. We all make use of the discussions forum.
CHALLENGES
- Time is always a major challenge as I always struggle to complete a hectic syllabus and finding the time to incorporate new ideas is often difficult. Implementing new technology means being totally aufait with it. New technology can be easily introduced once I have mastered it.
- Technology must aid me to work smarter but not control me.
- Convincing the management in my department that it is imperative that Information Technology need to be incorporated in each year of the Accounting program as technology is critical and key to their future careers. Industry requires efficient and knowledgeable accountants with IT experience. Industry often highlights that IT is key to all professions today. Problems in trying to introduce new emerging technologies include the following:
- Reluctance from older staff members to be innovative
- Lack of insight on the part of management who often use monetary constraints as a reason for resistance to change.
- Granting staff time to embark on training programs
- Digital divide is growing - resistance of academia to change and phobia of risk taking is real
- Diversity in students’ academic preparedness, language and schooling background.
OUTCOMES
- To investigate the full potential of Blackboard 9.1 LMS
- I would like to explore Google Docs and investigate its full potential as it would be beneficial and usable beyond the boundaries of the institution.
- To explore and see what functionalities are common in Blackboard and Google Docs
Hi Karen, So sorry we didn't get to discuss your project. I think your idea is fascinating and am interested to see what the similarities and differences are between Blackboard and Google Docs. The challenges you list are very real and i think pretty much shared by many of us. How do you plan to explore the functionality of these 2 LMSs? Would you interview IT people or investigate yourself and draw a table to compare? Also wondering whether you will explore student's knowledge of the two.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting! You already do a lot! You could think of adding surveys on content before the lecture? It could give a good indication of where students are and what difficulties to address in class. Are you making use of Multiple choice tests? With the numbers of students, you need to be able to save time as well, without sacrificing standards. Sounds challenging! I would like to know more about Google docs. I haven’t used it much – new learning curve for me as well!
ReplyDeleteKaren, I agree that there is already a lot going on, so you have a solid foundation from which to work. The suggestions above is also very helpful I think.
ReplyDeleteI would like to know how you unpack "to convey the accounting content"? Are you looking for ways for students to discover the content in a different, more creative (intuitive as you say) way, or will you also look at them being prosumers of content, i.e. get them to also build content (in groups, or in project teams etc). This could change the direction your case study is growing.
If the goal/ outcome is to weigh two types of (content) systems, then the case becomes more of an action research intervention. It really depends on how your new vision for the creation/ discovery/ teaching of the content will look like.
You also mention case studies for the students. Is there something one could design to deepen this aspect? Maybe through peer-assessment/ peer-feedback?
I am looking forward to how your case study is going to develop.
Good luck
Dear Karen, it seems to me that your case study is seeking to find ways in which emerging technologies could be used to enhance the delivery of your course as you indicate that “ you have already witnessed how your students have blossomed and grown and become efficient and effective users of technology in their workplaces”, and that “technology has opened doors to them in industry and transformed many of their lives for the better”. You also have a firm conviction that “emerging technology are tools that could enable and bring about transformation”, and that you want “ to find the appropriate Technology tools that would make the content as intuitive as possible.”
ReplyDeleteWhat to do you mean by this transformation?
I think you now need to ‘horn’ into some pedagogical aspect that will bring about the transformation you seek. What do you mean by making student learning more ‘intuitive’? Do you want to make your learners more actively engaged in the course? Are you interested in seeing that they improve their communication, participation? Do you want to make sure that they have a firm grasp of information system concepts (conceptual understanding )they can apply later in their work? etc.
One of the challenges we face now is that whatever technological tool you teach your students to use could be obsolete by the time they graduate. That is why it is better for you to address some pedagogical challenge and then see if the technology you have chosen can be used to improve some aspect of this challenge.
Your innovation will be in the way you do this. You could find out if the LMS is assisting you or inhibiting you, or you could, as you have already suggested-compare the affordances of the LMS with another tool such as google docs in the aspect/challenge you choose to focus on.
Your case study will be very useful.