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Sun, Nov 4, 8:30 - 8:55, Ellwood 2 Paper (refereed)

Recommended Citation: Kraft, T A, K M Kakish, and A L Steenkamp. Bridging the Digital Divide in Undergraduate Business Information Systems Education. In The Proceedings of the Information Systems Education Conference 2007, v 24 (Pittsburgh): §4123. ISSN: 1542-7382. (A later version appears in Information Systems Education Journal 7(4). ISSN: 1545-679X.)

Bridging the Digital Divide in Undergraduate Business Information Systems Education

Refereed

10 pages

Theresa A. Kraft    [a1] [a2]
School of Management
University of Michigan Flint    [u1] [u2]
Flint, Michigan, USA    [c1] [c2]

Kamal M. Kakish    [a1] [a2]
College of Management
Lawrence Technological University    [u1] [u2]
Southfield, Michigan, USA    [c1] [c2]

Annette Lerine Steenkamp    [a1] [a2]
College of Management
Lawrence Technological University    [u1] [u2]
Southfield, Michigan, USA    [c1] [c2]

This paper presents some of the more-effective techniques of teaching with the philosophy of providing undergraduate Business and Management students the required computer skills and foundation for subsequent courses in Business Management Information Systems. Traditional academic learning techniques cause undergraduate faculty significant challenges as they fail to adequately engage the digital gaming generation. The generational gap between the baby boomers and the gaming generation has created a new digital divide and requires teachers to rethink about how they are presenting material in the classroom. The traditions of brick-and-mortar classroom teaching approaches are in dire need of improvements to bridge the ever-widening digital divide between the professor’s instructional methods and the expectations of the “digital gaming teenager”. A Management Information Systems course was designed with the above challenges and solutions in mind. The course introduced the use of computers, basic information system concepts and the management of information technology to support effective decision making. A number of success strategies included Web Based Assignments, Research Report and Presentation, On-line Testing, and Industry-based Case Studies. Analysis of this experiment induced the authors that the effective educational instruments were those that appealed to the students with creativity, challenges and continuous feedback. This paper concludes that educators need to develop new teaching methodologies and learn how to engage this new digital gaming generation while providing the students with both the soft skill sets and technical knowledge required for the global competitive market.

Keywords: information systems, gaming generation, On-line Testing, teaching methodologies, case studies, undergraduate education, soft skills, computer skills

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