Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
guidance and support from the lecturer. They can use the (technical) infrastructure of the
university but must observe some procedural conditions and rules of the organization.
For the students, two courses of this special form are required. Normally, they
participate in these projects in their third or fourth (and last) year. Their participation is graded
on a normal scale. The responsible lecturer for a project defines the project task, gives support
and guidance, shows adequate tools and techniques, and helps to adjust problems. Often,
the lecturer will play the role of a steering committee in a project organization. The project tasks
are often defined together, with some cooperation partners from outside the university, who
have realistic and practical interests in the results of the project.
In the course documented here, the task was to train users in handling and using a new
technology, for instance, elderly people in using the Internet. This is a realistic simulation
of future tasks and responsibilities of the graduates when they are heading IT management.
We chose the context of “older people” and “Internet,” because the technical environment
is available at the university and is well known to the students, and the target group is not
familiar with the handling and has barriers to use the technology — so it is a realistic context.
The training event was named “S3: Senior Surf School.” The main tasks of the students were
as follows:
Define detailed goals and rules of “S3: Senior Surf School”; define and maintain target
dates and time limits
Manage the participants (attraction, invitation, registration, etc.)
Design and develop the structure and program of the surf school
Design and develop all training materials (teachers guide, handout for participants,
etc.)
Manage resources (rooms, technical equipment, supplies, spare parts, etc.)
Evaluate: design and manage a performance evaluation system
Manage the project: manage time and division of labor, report to steering committee,
document all activities, etc.
Conduct the training as teachers
Some organizational prerequisites were set as follows:
The whole project should be finished within the semester (five months).
The training of the surf school should take place in rooms and with the technical
equipment of the university. Regular courses and other events should not be disturbed.
The volume of the Internet training should be 25 to 50 hours.
Detailed Goals of the Surf School
After starting the projects, the students had some intensive discussions with key
people of the target group, some older people we know from a division of the biggest labor
party in Germany. Before this analysis, together with key people of the target group, it was
quite an open question as to which skills elderly people have and which the school can be
based on. To conduct end-user training successfully, it is essential to consider the
prerequisites the target group brings into the training situation and, furthermore, the training
needs of the group.
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