Opportunities & Challenges for End-User Development Activities in Information Systems Curricula

End-user development (EUD) activities where the end-user assumes a central role in creating or modifying software artefacts have the potential to offer meaningful experiential learning opportunities for students in IS courses. By providing hands-on exposure to technology platforms in the context of business problems and requirements, EUD activities can help bridge the gap between education and experience in a rapidly evolving IT landscape. Traditional examples of EUD in IS courses include student activities such as using spreadsheet & database applications, working with simulations, and web development. More recently, tools such as mashups and cloudstreams have become a popular choice for creating user-centric applications. This workshop will discuss recent trends in EUD technologies and highlight opportunities for their purposeful integration in IS courses. Workshop participants will be invited to pilot and appraise various EUD-based tasks and tools, and to provide their assessments about the efficacy of such activities in IS courses. Duration ( ) 9.00 am to 10.30 am ( X ) 11.00 am to 12.30 pm Workshop leader(s) information Name: Umar Ruhi Affiliation: Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa Telephone: +1 613-562-5800 X. 1990 e-mail: [email protected] Speakers’ background, description of workshop, and envisioned activities during the workshop Workshop Presenter Umar Ruhi teaches various undergraduate and graduate level courses in Information Systems at the Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa. In addition to teaching various courses in the BCom and MBA programs, he is a principal professor in the University’s Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in E-Business Technologies where he teaches various courses such as Mobile Commerce, Enterprise Social Media Strategy, and Internet Security. End-User Development (EUD) based learning modules are core components in most of Umar’s courses. Activities are designed with the aim to instill a basic practical understanding of technology tools and functional software applications, and to aid students’ understanding of theory and concepts introduced in the classroom. Workshop Objectives & Activities The objective of this workshop is to discuss recent trends in EUD technologies and to highlight opportunities for their purposeful integration in IS courses. The workshop facilitator will draw upon various examples from his courses, and discuss how EUD based activities in IS courses can potentially engage students in experiential learning through active experimentation and concrete experiences. The workshop will comprise the following key activities:  Demonstration of use-cases and tools for EUD based pedagogical components from various IS courses;  Pilot and appraisal of various EUD tasks and tools by workshop participants;  Discussion of guidelines and key success factors for the inclusion of EUD-based tasks and tools in IS courses;  Discussion of alignment between EUD activities and learning outcomes defined in AIS model curricula;  Networking among participants and initial expression of interest for further pedagogical and research collaboration on the theme of EUD in IS education. Special requirements Regular equipment includes a projector and a screen. Microphones can be made available based on the size of the room and the number of attendees. IMPORTANT: Presenters are required to provide their own computers. Internet will be provided in the meeting rooms. A flipchart can be made available if needed. Do you need a flipchart? ( ) Yes ( X ) No Audience/Participants (Insert a description of likely participants) This workshop would be useful for faculty members who are involved in teaching or curriculum development of information systems courses and are interested in leveraging experiential learning opportunities for their students. Please indicate maximum number of participants: 15 Are Audience/Participants required to bring laptop or other devices? ___X___ (Yes) _________ (No) If Yes, please list what they must bring? A laptop with internet access will allow the workshop participants to sample and experiment with some of the tasks and tools being presented. However, the workshop format will also be amenable to someone participating through observation and discussion. Please indicate your preferred workshop room setup: ( ) Rounds (i.e., roundtables) ( X ) Classroom (i.e., rows of seats with tables for writing) ( ) Theater (rows of seats without tables or desks for writing) ( ) Other ( ) Special instructions: ___________________________________________________ Please go to http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/amcis2015 to submit your Academic Professional Development Workshop proposal.