Carmen Joham

Teaching Critical Management Skills: The Role of Problem-Based Learning.

This paper explores problem-based learning (PBL) as a vehicle for developing critical management skills and preparing students for their future careers. Using student reflections and facilitator observations the paper presents the nature of individuals’ experiences with learning and teaching in a PBL setting in the management discipline. The study investigates: (1) how students engage in and experience the learning process in a PBL context, particularly in relation to the development of group processes; and (2) the skills developed through both learning and assessments in a PBL course. The paper concludes that, for management educators, successful PBL requires adequate structure and support to ensure that students move through the PBL cycle identified by Hmelo-Silver.

The ‘Ear’ and ‘Eye’ Digital Divide

This paper is about using technology to help people who share knowledge orally. The objective is to appreciate the social and technical needs of this preference so as to narrow the divide developing between these people and those who earn their living from written knowledge sharing. Writing is not the preferred method of knowledge sharing for the majority of peoples on earth nor is it appropriate for the majority of problems. A mix of both literacy and orality is believed to be the ideal, so a failure to develop cheap and relevant synchronous and asynchronous oral knowledge sharing technology may down play the importance of orality in the social and economic development of both the developed and developing nations. This paper will argue that IS designers interested in global diversity, equity, innovation and economic development through communication technology need to place more emphasis on orality. The difference between oral and written knowledge sharing will be discussed to explain the need for both synchronous and asynchronous communication technologies. A small study comparing asynchronous oral and written communication is presented as is an attempt to design an Internet based oral conferencing system to link Aboriginal communities. It was found that there was a need for developing cheap community based conferencing facilities and to improve the asynchronous oral communication technologies.

A multi-perspective cultural study of information technology in developing and developed countries

The increasing dynamics in the information technology field and imperative ongoing changes to keep in the global arena have led to failures arising from inadequate understanding of cultural influences on virtual communities design and development. This study explores some of the similarities and differences between the cultural background and information technology development approaches of 48 virtual community sites from three different countries: Venezuela, Bangladesh and the USA. We argue that an in-depth understanding of a countrys cultural dimension of developing and developed virtual communities is detrimental to help web developers and marketers to produce effective virtual community websites. A model relating cultural dimensions between developed and developing virtual communities was formulated emphasising on a multiple level of analysis encompassing the levels of technology (T), organisation (O) and individual-society perspectives (P), as suggested by Linstone (1984). Implications for further research and practice are discussed.

Critique Skills as the Core Competency of IS Academics

This paper is about information systems (IS) academics. It seeks to suggest a unique core competency they may wish to consider developing in order to differentiate themselves from practioners. So, this paper will explore the argument that the core competency of IS academics should be a unique insight into how to critique technology related problems. There are multiple disparate critique methods that IS educators might seek to develop and apply. Examples include systems thinking, multiple perspectives, dialectic analysis and critical social thinking.

Problem Based Group Learning in IT in Higher Education: Reflection and Experiences

This paper describes a number of issues that have arisen using some of the current methods for forming groups for collaborative group projects and how group interactions and group learning support student progress and development. The use of group projects prepares students for the workplace of tomorrow where they will encounter having to collaborate in teams. Firstly, the paper discusses the importance of IT subjects in universities, specifically addressing the importance of computer literacy among students. The paper then draws on the instructors’ reflections on field work undertaken when delivering a number of courses and introduces, in a narrative style, some crucial indicators (key factors) which impact on group work within IT education. A number of preliminary suggestions addressing group work learning in the early stages of forming the group will be discussed. Furthermore, some of the students’ views (that is, concerns) and specific experiences will be described to highlight the importance of group learning.

The Informal Economy and the Arts: A Two-Country Perspective

This article argues the importance of the relationship of the informal economy to the formal economy in the arts sector. Data on arts workers is presented from two countries in the Asia Pacific region. The article highlights that artists work across both the formal and informal economy during different phases of their career, and even when artists work in less formal settings culture is sustained, grows, and is passed on to others. The conclusion suggests why and how more equitable linkages between the informal and the formal economy should be promoted and acknowledged through an appropriately inclusive policy and regulatory environment.

INNOVATION THROUGH A SELF-ORGANIZATION LENS

This study argues that the concept of ‘self-organiz ation’ is useful as an alternative to evaluate inno vative capacity in rural communities and enable an effecti ve engagement with the economic development regions. The concept of self-organization provides a means o f reviewing regions in a manner which enables local Governments to measure and develop innovative capacity. Developing innovative capacity is seen as an important driver for achieving the targets of a cou ntry strategic planning agenda. This paper presents a study in the state of South Australia, Australia in which the self-organization concept offers a strategy fo r proactively engaging the regions to innovation.

Idea adaption, social interactions and small world networks: An Australian study

Organizations need a capacity to adapt new ideas and therefore require the means to visualize them. Idea adaptation is understood to be a social interaction process. This idea of adaption capacity might therefore be understood and managed by visualizing it using small world theory. This paper will explain how and why small world visualization can be used to represent idea adaption capability. The small world structure is preferred because it represents loose coupling and distinguishes the need for both discipline-specific knowledge (strong ties) and interaction with alternative ideas (structural holes, weak ties). Furthermore, it appears to be the evolved preferred natural networking structure for idea sharing. An illustration of how the small world structure might be visualized is provided by mapping the idea adapting networks of two loosely coupled organizations.