Business Education Technology, What Is 'Business Education'?
Q: What are some critical issues in 'business education' today?
What are some changes that might come to the field of 'business education' in
the >near future? And -- are those changes desirable?
A:I view the Internet as a vast library that: (a) has no qualitative screening
processes; and, (b) has primitive methods for locating information. The 'net
has been rapidly commercialized with the advent of on-line shopping, the
proliferation of corporate web-sites, and the damnable practice of spamming.
At this time I would not try to integrate the 'Information Superhighway' with
business education (except as a demonstration of corporate/business
communication practices and ideas).
This harkens back to your #1 issue. Both essentially deal with tools and
processes that will be outdated by the time your students enter the workforce.
Did schools teach the use of Gestetners in the sixties, or photocopiers in
the seventies? Kids used them, but courses of study were not built around
them.
But to respond to your issue.
Software developers (e.g. Microsoft) don't have much appreciation for
efficiency (i.e. programs that do more with less code - What was wrong with MS
Word 4 that necessitated MS Word 6 with three times the code?) This means
that, to keep 'up to date' is a costly proposition for public education. In
general, schools can be effective using technology that is several years out
of date. That would allow schools to obtain used (read: obsolete) computers
and software from business and government. So you can't run Windows this
year? Don't worry - another operating system is always on the way and, when
it arrives, then you'll be able to obtain computers that can run Windows.
Q: How do teachers know what applications to teach now?
Q: Since technology is ever changing, why not require teachers to alternate
teaching and work experience (4 years teaching, two working, repeat)? This
might lend some relevance to what is being taught.
I honestly don't mean to offend - I am just aggressively curious.
Incidentally, I am a Chartered Accountant (Canadian version of a C.P.
A: ) who has worked for a school board in an administrative role. I am also interested in teaching "Business Studies" at the high school level, but I am beginning to question just what this entails. I don't want to be a glorified typing teacher. Hi. If you're following the thread below you might be interested in our project, 'Business Education on the Internet' at http://bizednet.bris.ac.uk:8080/ I'm responsible for the web implimentation rather than the content, but would be very interested to hear any comments you have on the site; what you feel is useful or missing etc. Suggestions and feedback are always appreciated. (current features include online global and uk statistics, company reports,