Benefits and Challenges of Using Community-Based Research To Develop an Educational Web Portal

Service-learning projects are becoming more prevalent in Information Systems education. This study explores the benefits and challenges of community-based research, a special kind of a service-learning strategy, in an Information Systems core course on web development. The paper presents a case study of a service-learning project to develop an educational web portal for a second-grade class by an Information Systems student and an elementary school teacher. The study‟s findings show that community-based research promotes student learning and facilitates the development of an educational web portal for a primary school teacher. In spite of these benefits, there are social and technological challenges of using community-based research as a servicelearning strategy in an Information Systems course. The study‟s findings have implications for structuring effective service-learning experiences to promote student learning and secure community gains.