Is Optional Web-Based Seminar an Effective Way of Learning as a Part of Information Management and Information Systems Development Course?

摘要

This paper describes the use of the web as a complementary addition to conventional lectures in the learning of the basic concepts of information management and information systems development. We utilize conventional lecture material, search engines on the web, and the Optima learning environment. The solution enables a web-based seminar supporting learning in various ways. First, in our approach the students compose a coursework report focusing on the main concepts of the subject area. This occurs by using lecture handouts and search engines on the web. Second, in the web-based seminar students can familiarize themselves with the coursework reports of other students. We claim that in this way learning can be promoted in the spirit of both cognitive and social constructivism. During the coursework and while in the seminar the students worked in small groups of two to four students or they completed the coursework as an individual task. In the web-based seminar the students had a workspace in the Optima environment for publishing their coursework presentations. At the final phase of the course the students were expected to familiarize themselves with the presentations of other groups. In this paper we analyze the benefit of our WWW-based seminar based on the goals of the course. At the beginning and end of the course the students were expected to analyze their own knowledge of the themes of our course. These themes were: (I) administrative view to information resources management, (2) technological view to information resources management, (3) building information systems, and (4) organizational applications. In addition, the students were expected to analyze how they experienced the coursework. The study found out that the WWW-supported coursework and seminar have a neutral effect on learning different themes of the course in most cases. However, the students of IT faculty benefited more from the web-based coursework in the learning of topics I and 3. We also found that the Optima-based coursework suits a little bit better for younger students, males and the students of information technology and it may be more effective as an individual task.