GooLearning
In a Management
Information System Course
Prof. Dr. Srisakdi Charmonman
www.charm.au.edu
charm@ksc.au.edu
Chairman of the Board CEO of the College
of Internet Distance Education
Assumption University of Thailand
Keynote Address.
The Sixth International Conference on eLearning for Knowledge-Based Society
“eLearning, mLearning and uLearning”,
December 17-18, 2009 at Srisakdi Charmonman IT Center,
Assumption University, Suvarnabhumi Campus, Thailand.
GooLearning In a Management
Information System Course.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Introduction.
Simple Form of GooLearning.
Google for Term Project.
Project Presentation.
2
GooLearning In a Management
Information System Course.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Webinar.
Open-Google Examination.
Google-Searching with Image Rather Than Words.
Google Wave.
Concluding Remarks.
3
1. Introduction.

eLearning in Thailand start in the year 2002
when the author
drafted the first eLearning law in Thailand
to allow all universities
to offer complete degree program
in the eLearning mode.
4
Introduction (Cont.)

In the year 2002, the author
convinced the Board of Trustees
of Assumption University of Thailand
to establish
the College of Internet Distance Education (CIDE)
with the author
as the Chairman of the Executive Board
and the Chief Executive Officer.
5
Introduction (Cont.)

The College is a semi-autonomous organization
in the university
and run by the executives
with the titles similar to those in business.
6
Introduction (Cont.)

The positions in the College:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Chief Academic Officer
- Chief Operating Officer
- Chief Technology Officer
(CEO)
(CAO)
(COO)
(CTO)
7
Introduction (Cont.)


The College
is housed at Srisakdi Charmonman IT Center
with 12 floors of 1,000 square meters per floor.
The building and equipment
valued at about 15 US$ million.
8
Srisakdi Charmonman IT Center.
9
Introduction (Cont.)

For 3 years (2002 to 2005), the author:
- lobbied 5 Ministers of the Cabinet.
- sent many letters to the Prime Minister.
- in his capacity
as Chairman of the eASEAN Business Council,
convinced 10 Ministers of ASEAN
to endorse eLearning.
10
Introduction (Cont.)



The author was successful in getting the decree
published in the Royal Garzette in October 2005.
In January 2006, Assumption University
became the first university in Thailand
to offer a complete eLearning degree program.
That program was
Master of Science in Management,
with the author as the Program Director.
11
Introduction (Cont.)

With the popularity of mobile phones,
eLearning has been extended to “mLearning”
by replacing the computers
with the mobile phones
and modifications of courseware.
12
Introduction (Cont.)
eLearning
mLearning
uLearning
13
Definitions of “eLearning”
from the Sloan Consortium
eLearning is learning
in which 80 – 100%
of the learning activities
are carried out thru the Internet.
14
Two Types of eLearning Instructors.
eLearning
Subject (Content) Expert
Facilitation Instructor
15
Introduction (Cont.)

The Subject Expert is in charge of:
- Proposing the Coursewares.
- Proposing Learning Activities.
- Submit Them to the Committee.
16
Introduction (Cont.)

The committee includes:
- Subject Expert - Instructional Designer
- Web Designer - Web Programmer
- Graphic Designer - Graphic Programmer
- Video Editor
- Audio Editor
- Project Coordinator
17
Introduction (Cont.)

At the opening of the discovery learning library
at Lumpini Park,
HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn
has said that
if you would like to have any knowledge,
you could ask Professor Goo or Google.
18
HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn
Graciously Opened the Discovery Learning Library
at Lumpini Park
19
Introduction (Cont.)

The author modified
his Management Information Systems (MIS) course
to be based on
acquiring knowledge from Google
and called it “gooLearning”.
20
2. Simple Form of GooLearning.


The MIS course covers 15 weeks,
each week with 3 hours.
In the first hour, the author hands out:
- Course Description.
- Course Activities.
- Guidelines for Knowledge Acquisition.
- Related Materials.
21
The author’s MIS course.
5%
Midterm Examination
10%
30%
15%
Final Examination
Term Project Report
40%
Presentation of Term
Project
Attending Seminars
22
Simple Form of GooLearning (Cont.)

Searching “Charmonman TV Program”
form Google
and found it at the first entry.
23
Searching “Charmonman TV Program”
24
Simple Form of GooLearning (Cont.)

Clicking further to
“TV Program: Management Information Systems
(MIS)”,
there is a list of 42 TV clips
each with about one hour.
25
TV Program:
Management Information Systems (MIS)
26
Simple Form of GooLearning (Cont.)

The 42 TV lectures
are equal to the 45 hours
less three hours for the final examination.
27
List of 42 TV Lectures
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
Overview of MIS
Information Systems and the Internet
Searching for Information from the Internet
Dot Com Companies
Payment Systems for Dot Com
Intranet in Organizations
Why Information Systems?
28
List of 42 TV Lectures (Cont.)
8)
9)
10)
11)
12)
13)
14)
New Opportunities with Information Systems
Types of IS in Organizations
Applications of IS
Impacts of IS to Organizations
Impacts of IS on Decision Making
eCommerce
eBusiness
29
List of 42 TV Lectures (Cont.)
15)
16)
17)
18)
19)
20)
21)
Moral in IS
Ethics in IS
Privacy and IS
IT Infrastructure
Hardware
Software
File Organization
30
List of 42 TV Lectures (Cont.)
22)
23)
24)
25)
26)
27)
28)
Database Development and Trend
Telecommunications
Internet Technology and Services
Wireless Network
mCommerce
Vulnerability in IS
Searching and Privacy in IS
31
List of 42 TV Lectures (Cont.)
29)
30)
31)
32)
33)
34)
35)
Technology and Tools for Security
Organization-wide IS
Supply Chain Management
Customer Relationship Management
Knowledge Management
Artificial Intelligence
Decision Support Systems
32
List of 42 TV Lectures (Cont.)
36)
37)
38)
39)
40)
41)
42)
Executive Support Systems
Planning of IS
Development of IS
Value of MIS
Factors for Successful IS
International IS
Organization of International IS
33
Simple Form of GooLearning (Cont.)


In each weekly period of three hours,
students are given topics to be covered.
Each and all students are instructed
to search Google for information about the topic.
34
Simple Form of GooLearning (Cont.)

For example,
the first topic is “Management Information System”.
Searching
“define: management information systems”
from Google, 3 entries were found.
35
“Define: Management Information Systems”
36
Simple Form of GooLearning (Cont.)

Three students are assigned to scan
each of the three entries.
If there are terms not clear in the explanation,
Google is again used
to acquire information about them.
37
Simple Form of GooLearning (Cont.)

The next step would be to remove the word
“define:”, i.e. searching only for
“management information systems”,
over 200,000 entries were found.
38
Searching “Management Information Systems”
39
Simple Form of GooLearning (Cont.)

Assigning students to read
all of those 200,000 entries
would be a big waste of time.
So, students may be asked
to vote for 4-5 entries to be investigated.
40
Simple Form of GooLearning (Cont.)
The first example may be a PDF file
on handbook on management information systems
from the US government
at www.occ.treas.gov.
 It may be assigned to a student
to quickly scan and summarize it to the class.

41
Simple Form of GooLearning (Cont.)

The second example may be
“Management information systems explained”
from the UK,
www.bestpricecomputers.co.uk
to be assigned to the second student.
42
Simple Form of GooLearning (Cont.)

The third example may be
the journal of management information systems
at www.jmis-web.org
to be assigned to the third student.
43
Simple Form of GooLearning (Cont.)

The instructor has to acquire knowledge
before meeting with the class
in order to make sure
that the class would not wander around
without covering what should be covered
in that period according to the schedule of classes.
44
3. Google for Term Project.

In addition to topics to be covered
in the 15 periods of the 3-credit course,
knowledge acquisition for the term project
could and should be done by use of Google.
45
Google for Term Project (Cont.)

The instructor may demonstrate
to the students
how to search Google for all the knowledge
or most of the knowledge
to be supplemented from other sources.
46
Google for Term Project (Cont.)


Searching Google for “Term Project”,
118 millions entries were found.
A very interesting entry is
“Your Name the Term Project-CustomPaper.com
Can Do It”.
47
Searching Google for “Term Project”.
48
Google for Term Project (Cont.)

For a price, the web claims to be able
to provide student with:
- Research and Academic Source Material.
- Composing Tests.
- Necessary Visual Component.
or Graphics for the Term Project.
- Editing and Rewriting.
- Originality.
49
Google for Term Project (Cont.)

They claim that
every term project
they complete is 100% original
and free of plagiarism.
50
Google for Term Project (Cont.)

In the classes the author has been teaching,
he emphasizes to students
that if a student
uses the service of Custompapers.com
or similar organizations,
that student would be dismissed from the University.
51
Google for Term Project (Cont.)


The final result of a term project
is the project report.
Student should search something
like “Project Report” from Google
which give 196 million entries.
52
Searching “Project Report”
in Google with 196 million Entries.
53
Google for Term Project (Cont.)


Clicking “project report template”,
18.3 million entries were found.
Students should consult the professor
which entries are acceptable.
54
4. Project Presentation.


After the project report has been prepared,
each group of 2-3 students
has to present the project.
The student could search Google
for “Project Presentation”,
98.9 million entries were found.
55
Searching Project Presentation
in Google with 98.9 million Entries.
56
Project Presentation (Cont.)

For example,
if the first entry is clicked,
detail of a software for presentation is found.
57
Easy Presentation Software.
58
5. Webinar.



The MIS course requires students
to attend three webinars,
about one per month.
Searching Google for
“Webinar Management Information Systems”
663,000 entries were found.
The instructor may find a free webinar each month
for students to attend and write a short report on it.
59
Webinar (Cont.)


Alternately, the instruction may download
free webinar software
and invite a local expert to conduct the webinar.
An example of a free software is “Dimdim Webinar”
which may be on free trial for 30 days
and later, 69 US$ per month.
60
A Webinar Software.
61
6. Open-Google Examination.


Similar to “Open-Book Examination”
in which students are allowed
to bring any number of books
to the examination room.
“Open-Google Examination”
allows students to have access to Google
during the three-hour examination.
62
Open-Google Examination (Cont.)

In Thailand, examination has to be proctored.
The College of Internet Distance Education
of Assumption University of Thailand
has been arranging proctored examination
for student in many countries.
63
Open-Google Examination (Cont.)


A proctor arranged by
the College may be a member of the Thai embassy
or an instructor at the local educational institution.
The student has to pay the proctor
according to the rate established by the College.
64
Open-Google Examination (Cont.)

The proctor’s duties include:
- Checking that the student
is the one who registered for the course.
- Checking that the student
dose not use the Internet to get someone else
to answer the examination questions for him.
- enforce the 3 hours limit
for the period of the exam.
65
Open-Google Examination (Cont.)

When the student is ready
to hand in the examination answers,
the proctor ensures that
the name and students ID are included
with the answers that the student hands in.
66
Open-Google Examination (Cont.)


Similar to “Open-Book Exam”
in which the questions
do not explicitly appear in the books,
“Open-Google Exam”
should not have question explicitly in Google.
The question should be of applied
or analysis nature.
67
7. Google-Searching with Image
Rather Than Words.

Google has been announcing new services
from time to time
and they may be used in GooLearning.
68
Google-Searching with Image (Cont.)


An example is “Google Goggles”
which was announcement on December 8, 2009.
In the earlier search of Google,
key words were used.
69
Google-Searching with Image (Cont.)


In Google Goggles, instead of words,
users can use photograph,
work of art or logo.
Google Goggles is available for free download
onto mobile phone
with the Android operating system.
70
Google-Searching with Image (Cont.)


A user can focus his mobile phone camera
on an object or a landmark.
Then Google Goggles would try to match the image
with tens of millions of images in its databases.
Hopefully, the service will be available
for use on notebooks and desktop computers later.
71
8. Google Wave.

At Google I/O Conference on May 27, 2009,
Google announced
“Google Personal Communication
and Collaboration Tool”
called “Google Wave”.
72
Google Wave (Cont.)

Google Wave:
- Web-based Service.
- Computing Platform.
- Communications Protocol.
73
Google Wave (Cont.)

Google Wave merge:
- eMail.
- Instant Messaging.
- Wikis.
- Social Network.
74
Google Wave (Cont.)

Google Wave can be used
in gooLearning.
75
8. Concluding Remarks.



The main advantage of GooLearning
is that students do not have to buy textbooks.
Almost all kinds of information
can be found by searching Google.
GooLearning could be done in the classroom mode
or the eLearning mode.
76
Concluding Remarks (Cont.)

This paper presented gooLearning
as an alternative to:
- Classical Classroom Learning.
- eLearning.
- mLearning.
- uLearning.
77
Concluding Remarks (Cont.)

The tools and techniques of gooLearning
will probably
be improved from time to time.
78