Papers by Mark Frydenberg
This paper shares preliminary findings of a pilot project to study the potential of the metaverse... more This paper shares preliminary findings of a pilot project to study the potential of the metaverse as an option for course delivery in an immersive learning environment. As part of a first-year seminar course on the metaverse, the authors identified and applied design principles for building an effective immersive learning space to create a virtual space that mirrored a popular campus technology learning center. After learning about the metaverse throughout the course, students attended a class session online to experience this virtual environment, and then reflected on their own interest in and perceived value of immersive learning spaces. Results from a student survey suggest that while students are skeptical about their own continued involvement with the metaverse after the course is over, many recognize potential of the metaverse as a social platform that fosters engagement and collaboration.
Information Systems Education Journal, Mar 1, 2017
Connecting ordinary devices to the Internet is a defining characteristic of the Internet of Thing... more Connecting ordinary devices to the Internet is a defining characteristic of the Internet of Things. In this hands-on lab activity, students will connect a wireless doorbell to the Internet using a Raspberry Pi computer. By modifying and running a program on the Raspberry Pi to send an email or text message notifying a recipient that someone is at the door, students will gain an appreciation for how the Internet of Things enables devices to work together to produce new products or solutions. The activity also serves as a brief introduction to interacting with the Linux operating system on a Raspberry Pi computer. Working in groups of 3 or 4, students will demonstrate their understanding by completing a collaborative lab report that summarizes the key takeaways of each step. Little or no programming skills are required. The experience of physically connecting an everyday object to a device online gives an appreciation of the potential for automating tasks using the Internet of Things.
Information Systems Education Journal, Jul 1, 2016
Teaching game development has become an accepted methodology for introducing programming concepts... more Teaching game development has become an accepted methodology for introducing programming concepts and capturing the interest of beginning computer science and information technology (IT) students. This study, conducted over three consecutive semesters, explores game development using a gaming engine, rather than a traditional programming language, as a means not only to introduce programming concepts, but also to promote the development of information and communications technology (ICT) literacy skills among first-year business students. The paper argues that in addition to learning programming concepts, completing the steps involved to develop and publish an original game requires students to demonstrate a variety of ICT skills. To be successful, they must be proficient at creating and editing multimedia, interacting with multiple operating systems and mobile devices, performing research online, transferring files from one machine to another, and uploading the files for their games to an app store and the web.
Information Systems Education Journal, Sep 1, 2015
From their presence on social media sites to in-house application data files, the amount of data ... more From their presence on social media sites to in-house application data files, the amount of data that companies, governments, individuals, and sensors generate is overwhelming. The growth of Big Data in both consumer and enterprise activities has caused educators to consider options for including Big Data in the Information Systems curriculum. Introducing Big Data concepts and technologies in the classroom often is reserved for advanced students in database or programming courses. This paper explores approaches for integrating Big Data into the Information Systems curriculum, and presents a sample lesson for presenting basic Big Data concepts to first year students in a general education Information Technology course. As the need for IT professionals with Big Data skills will continue to increase, including these topics in a general education technology curriculum is especially pertinent.
Information Systems Education Journal, 2013
The Computer Information Systems Learning and Technology Sandbox (CIS Sandbox) opened as a collab... more The Computer Information Systems Learning and Technology Sandbox (CIS Sandbox) opened as a collaborative learning lab during the fall 2011 semester at a New England business university. The facility employs 24 student workers, who, in addition to providing core tutoring services, are encouraged to explore new technologies and take on special projects to support or enhance the dayto-day operations of the CIS Sandbox. Doing so creates a culture of entrepreneurship and encourages innovation among the student workers and their peers. This paper follows up on previous results by describing a student-initiated development project to rewrite a card-swipe desktop application that tracks student usage, as an integrated suite of web and mobile apps. The paper presents the architecture of the new system along with perceptions from the student developers around their motivations to contribute to the CIS Sandbox technology infrastructure. Initial use of the prototype suggests it will improve productivity among tutors and provide faculty with easier access to tutoring data.
Recent scholarship on integrating technology in the classroom has focused on creating environment... more Recent scholarship on integrating technology in the classroom has focused on creating environments where teaching liberal learning skills may be enhanced through the use of technology (Ehrmann, 2004; Scott, Chenette, & Swartz, 2002). Ehrmann ( ) looks at the ways in which technology in the classroom can support "the five key educational outcomes for liberal education" as outlined by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) in its 2004 report Our Students Best Work. According to Ehrmann (2004), those include the following:
International Association for Development of the Information Society, Jul 1, 2013
This paper reports on a student-created and facilitated peer-tutoring activity to assist first-ye... more This paper reports on a student-created and facilitated peer-tutoring activity to assist first-year students in preparing for their final exam in an introductory information technology course. Tutors at the CIS Sandbox, a collaborative learning lab at an American university, offered a series of "Crunch Sessions" to their peers. This paper examines how these sessions model characteristics of peer tutoring, and describes how social media and Internet-based collaboration tools support a blended learning environment where an in-person event is aligned with a web presence. Interviews with student tutors and participants suggest that the peer relationship between tutors and tutees was conducive to an open exchange of questions and answers among participants, and that the sessions contributed to student learning for those who attended. Implications for designing and researching online peer learning activities in higher education contexts are discussed.
Project-based learning (PBL) engages students deeply with course concepts and empowers them to dr... more Project-based learning (PBL) engages students deeply with course concepts and empowers them to drive their own learning through the development of solutions to real-world challenges. By taking ownership of and completing a project that they designed, students develop and demonstrate creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration skills. This paper describes two different software development projects, designed with a PBL approach, in Python coding courses at two business universities in the United States, in which students queried real-world data to answer their own questions and interpret the results. The authors contend that projects based on a PBL approach motivate students for selfexploration and allow for the measure of student learning. The authors present their respective projects, share examples of student work, and offer suggestions and lessons learned from implementing PBL assignments in their classrooms. Finally, the authors reflect, through sharing student comments, on how key aspects of PBL are manifest in this project and discuss challenges in offering and managing PBL assignments. With Python's popularity on the rise, these two class examples serve as a model for how instructors can incorporate autonomy in PBL assignments, offering a valuable learning opportunity for students to create software applications that meaningfully demonstrate their coding skills.
Information Systems Education Journal, Aug 1, 2020
Learning cybersecurity awareness builds on basic information technology concepts and digital lite... more Learning cybersecurity awareness builds on basic information technology concepts and digital literacy skills. In an effort to raise cybersecurity awareness among information technology students, this paper describes a series of three different interactive sessions offered to students of all levels at a business university. The sessions introduced cybersecurity awareness through identifying actual breaches and incidents, using open source intelligence tools, and participating in a capture the flag style competition. Student comments in blog posts and interviews after these sessions show the relevance of cybersecurity awareness in their daily lives and a general sense of surprise, amazement and concern at how much personal information is readily available online.
International Association for Development of the Information Society, Jul 1, 2016
Short videos, also known as micro-videos, have emerged as a platform for sharing ideas, experienc... more Short videos, also known as micro-videos, have emerged as a platform for sharing ideas, experiences, and life events on online social networks. This paper shares preliminary results of a study involving students from two universities who created six-second videos using the Vine mobile app to explain or illustrate technology concepts. An analysis of their videos shows that the six-second constraint often inspires creativity and critical thinking, as students need to carefully consider the message they wish to convey, and how they can do so effectively in a compelling micro-video. The creation of such videos provides a way to demonstrate student learning.
Students use computer software to accomplish many tasks that are part of their daily routines. Th... more Students use computer software to accomplish many tasks that are part of their daily routines. This paper describes an innovative approach to teaching an introductory technology course in which students who had some previous experience expanded their knowledge by interacting with different types of software applications, and by analyzing their roles in relationship to those applications. Students purchased Pocket PCs to use along with their laptops for this course; no printed text books were used. This active-learning approach enabled students to learn the traditional course topics in a way that made them relevant and engaging. Additional benefits included students creatively using their Pocket PCs for both personal and educational purposes, allowing them to apply the technologies they learned in the classroom to the contexts of their own lives.
Information Systems Education Journal, Apr 1, 2011
Search engine optimization (SEO), the promoting of a Web site so it achieves optimal position wit... more Search engine optimization (SEO), the promoting of a Web site so it achieves optimal position with a search engine's rankings, is an important strategy for organizations and individuals in order to promote their brands online. Techniques for achieving SEO are relevant to students of marketing, computing, media arts, and other disciplines, and many college courses have begun to include SEO as part of their curricula. This paper describes an exercise for learning about SEO that mimics a popular online event known as an SEO contest. Contest participants implement a variety of SEO techniques in order to achieve the top position for an assigned word or phrase in a search engine's results. This paper also examines the learning benefits that such an exercise provides.
Current web applications are increasing in popularity because of their browser-rich interfaces an... more Current web applications are increasing in popularity because of their browser-rich interfaces and ability to incorporate information from a variety of sources. This paper presents a simple photo sharing application and enhancements to it using Web Services and ASP.NET AJAX in order to illustrate some of the implementation details of Web 2.0 applications on a very small scale. Early in the course, students create web-based applications whose pages have dynamic content obtained from a SQL Server Database. Students later repackage some of their queries to share as web services, and then improve upon the user interface by incorporating AJAX enhancements. The project may serve as a capstone assignment in an undergraduate web application development course, where students use ASP.NET and C# with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005. The paper argues that ASP.NET AJAX provides a new motivation for teaching web services. The paper also discusses pedagogical values and new opportunities as a result of this approach.
There are growing expectations among college students to be able to access and manage their cours... more There are growing expectations among college students to be able to access and manage their course materials over the World Wide Web. In its early days, faculty would create web pages by hand for posting this information. As Internet technologies and access have matured over the past decade, course and learning management systems such as Blackboard and Web CT have become the norm for distributing such materials. In today's Web 2.0 world, wikis have emerged as a tool that may complement or replace the use of traditional course management systems as a tool for disseminating course information. Because of a wiki's collaborative nature, its use also allows students to participate in the process of course management, information sharing, and content creation. Using examples from an information technology classroom, this paper describes several ways to structure and use a wiki as a course management tool, and shares results of a student survey on the effectiveness of such an approach on student learning.
The recent increased popularity of portable media players has made podcasting an attractive optio... more The recent increased popularity of portable media players has made podcasting an attractive option for many college professors to distribute their course lectures to students. This paper describes one information technology course in a business college where the students, rather than the teacher, create podcasts based on the course lectures materials. In the process, students learn to use software tools to create multimedia presentations that convey their understanding of course topics, as well as the technologies required to post them as podcasts. An end-of-semester survey gave insights into how students used the podcasts on their mobile devices to contribute to their learning, and an analysis of web server logs suggested that a majority of the students downloaded the podcasts to their portable media players, laptops, or PDAs.
Information Systems Education Journal, 2016
The start of the college experience is often hectic as students discover their new surroundings o... more The start of the college experience is often hectic as students discover their new surroundings on campus. Students must carry out several high-tech tasks on their laptops and mobile devices in order to be successful participants in the digital culture that permeates their institution of higher learning. This paper describes the implementation of mandatory JumpStart sessions, held during the first week of the semester outside of class time, for first year students enrolled in a required Technology Concepts course. The goal of these peer-led sessions is to set up student laptops and devices to function within the university's computing infrastructure, to install needed software for their technology concepts course, to introduce students to computing resources on campus, and to create a social learning environment where students engage with each other. In doing so, students form a community of practice which serves them well as they acclimate to their new surroundings.
International Association for Development of the Information Society, Jul 1, 2015
Teaching students to create computer games has become a common practice in both K-12 and tertiary... more Teaching students to create computer games has become a common practice in both K-12 and tertiary education to introducing programming concepts, increasing student engagement, and recruiting majors and minors in technology fields. This study describes a project where first-year college students in an introductory technology concepts course use a visual game creation tool to develop original games to play on their computers and mobile devices. The paper argues that the process of making an original computer game develops digital literacy skills and provides an authentic learning experience as students collaborate to create, publish, and deploy interactive games that they can play on their computers and mobile devices.
Springer eBooks, 2013
As students operate increasingly in digital environments populated by social media tools, they ne... more As students operate increasingly in digital environments populated by social media tools, they need to leverage them effectively to access online resources and stay connected to the physical environments which they inhabit. This paper reports on a practitioner research project to reconfigure a traditional Computer Information Systems (CIS) tutoring lab at a business university into the "CIS Sandbox." The physical facility launched with an aligned online presence intended to engage students and contribute to their learning about CIS topics. The paper presents the rationale, design, and implementation of these collaborative tools, and their impact on the students' and tutors' educational experience. Qualitative analysis from interviews with Sandbox staff and quantitative analysis of data from a preliminary survey suggests that creatively drawing upon collaborative tools and methods enables the integration between physical and virtual spaces.
Information Systems Education Journal, Aug 1, 2021
Recent years have witnessed a growing demand for business analytics-oriented curricula. This pape... more Recent years have witnessed a growing demand for business analytics-oriented curricula. This paper presents the implementation of an introductory Python course at a business university and the attempt to elevate the course's relevance by introducing data analytics topics. The results from a survey of 64 undergraduate students of the course are analyzed to understand their perceived relevance of having Python programming skills upon entering the workplace, and how course design and other student characteristics influenced the perceptions of their learning and performance. Results demonstrate that business students are highly motivated to take Python programming courses to better position themselves for future career opportunities in the growing field of data analytics. We also found that students with no prior programming experience performed better than students who had some prior programming experience, suggesting that Python is an appropriate choice for a first programming language in the Information Systems (IS) curriculum. The paper concludes with recommendations for offering an analytics-focused first programming course to bring added relevance to IS students learning programming skills.
Information Systems Education Journal, Oct 1, 2019
Estimote Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons deployed throughout a university campus enabled the c... more Estimote Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons deployed throughout a university campus enabled the creation of interactive tours for prospective and accepted students at Fall and Spring open house events. By configuring their mobile devices with an app to detect the beacons' signals, participants could view webpages containing information based on their current physical locations from the web addresses pushed to their devices by nearby beacons. Google Analytics and relational database reporting functions provided information related to the behavior of campus guests. This study presents lessons learned from deploying a Physical Web and results of analyzing user behavior based on the analytics data. The conclusions drawn from this data can be used to improve campus visits for prospective students and supplement decision making in university admissions offices. Participants in a follow-up survey shared their impressions of the Physical Web as an emerging technology. By joining in the project, participants said they learned more about the Physical Web and its application to real-life scenarios.
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Papers by Mark Frydenberg