Rosenbaum Ecommerce Education using a Virtual Economy Howard Rosenbaum School of Library and Information Science Indiana University November 7-8, 2000 SC’00 Dallas TX

Rosenbaum Ecommerce Education using a Virtual Economy L561: The Information Industry: Electronic Commerce has been taught in the School of Library and Information Science since 1996 In Spring 2000 the course was redesigned around a pedagogical approach: problem based learning The problem for students is to start up and operate an ebusiness in a competitive digital marketplace The virtual economy is the technological infrastructure of this marketplace Current syllabus:

Rosenbaum Structure of the VE Portal page: entryway to the VE with banner ad to each store Access is password protected through the login page Store template: front page, link to the product catalog Cold Fusion generated product catalog, shopping cart, checkout procedure Digital bank in the Oracle database When a transaction is completed, money is transferred from shopper to store account

Rosenbaum Student activity in the VE The student experience in the VE Each group: Develops and presents a business plan Designs its store Develops content Creates advertising and marketing strategies Sets up customer service and loyalty programs Manages the business Login page

Rosenbaum Timeline for the class Week 1: Developing a start-up company Week 2-8: Design, build, and test the site Week 2: Business plan Evaluation of sites and initial prototype Content development Week 3: Database development Week 4: Advertising development Week 5: Customer service Week 6: Final design Week 7-8: Test and redesign Week 9-15: Operate the storefronts Worksmarter.com

Rosenbaum Spring 00 VE There were five stores on the Spring 00 VE Each had different business model Retail: bundled goods Retail: individual items Sell entertainment Subscription: unlimited download Sell chats with experts

Rosenbaum Business in the VE VE Spring 2000 Shoppers: 76* Stores:5 Total $$ to be spent: $152, Weeks online:9 Total $$ spent: $119, (79%) Total $$ remaining: $32, (21%) Avg. $$ left/shopper: $ Avg $$ spent/shopper: $1, *Shoppers were business school students from Napier University, Scotland SickLittleMonkey

Rosenbaum Results: Profits after expenses Leader-profits: Stout.com had 47% of all sales ($56,480), 11% of all transactions (141) averaging $ per transaction Total sales = $

Rosenbaum Results: Transactions Leader-transactions: InTheKnow had 17% of all sales ($20,129.00), 76% of all transactions (983), averaging $20.48 per transaction Total transactions = 1292

Rosenbaum The VE seems to have been very successful supporting a problem based learning approach to teaching ecommerce Students report that the class was extremely challenging but worth the time and effort They came out of the class with a deeper understanding of the complexities of business-to- consumer ebusiness They report that they can speak about ecommerce with confidence in their job interviews The stores are now portfolio items that students list on their resumes VE as a pedagogical tool ExpertInfo

Rosenbaum Support for the VE The VE is currently being supported by a grant from the Ameritech Fellows Program for innovation in the use of information technology in education It is also being supported with an Academic Equipment Grant from Sun Microsystems