O. Al Shara and N.L. Baker (UAE)
Project based learning, integrated learning, interdisciplinary teams, interdisciplinary based learning and multidisciplinary teams.
Many studies [1, 2] show that the use of IT in the classroom improves student learning and the way they work [3, 4]. The implementation of technology in education requires innovation by teachers & the institute, and an organizational culture which supports such an implementation. Furthermore, technology must be used in an appropriate situation, be planned, monitored and evaluated against the goals of the educational initiative. Advances in technology lend themselves to delivery methods such as independent learning, e-learning and project based learning. The authors’ experiences in these methods triggered the desire for a more integrated approach to learning. Projects, especially real life ones, are multi-disciplinary by nature. For example, to work on an e-commerce website, the project team may consist of an interdisciplinary team of IT, Business and Media students in order to fully develop the business case and the website itself. The danger of developing a business application in isolation is that the developer runs the risk of not achieving the sponsors business goals fully. This paper proposes the Imaging Technology Center (ITC) as an example of how to: 1) Facilitate independent and project based learning methods; 2) Allow for self-formulating interdisciplinary teams; & 3) Deliver integrated learning.
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