1. © 2002 The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand Dr Zlatko J Kovacic, Senior Lecturer Designing an E-Commerce Course for Distance Mode Presented at Evolving e-Learning - DEANZ 2002 Conference Te Papa, Wellington, New Zealand April 10-12, 2002

2. © 2002 The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand Presentation Introduction Online pedagogy (cybergogy) Modes of learning Course approach Activities & assessments Virtual learning environment

3. © 2002 The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand Modes of Learning Basic modes of learning: Tutor-led learning Individual, inquiry-based learning Collaborative learning Mixture of inquiry-based and collaborative learning

4. © 2002 The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand Course Approach A general inspiration behind the approach is to put a student into the position of an entrepreneur who is starting an e-commerce venture i.e. to learn about e-commerce through a set of semi-structured activities which will help them to set up an online business in a simulated e-commerce environment.

5. © 2002 The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand Activities & Assessments - theory Individual activities Team activities We teach theory through readings, presentations and discussion on various e- commerce topics. Student choose a topic/article/issue to discuss (from the list tutor provided to them), post a report in the forum and the other students participate in discussion by submitting their comments.

6. © 2002 The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand Activities & Assessments - practice We teach practice through an online entrepreneurship simulation called VCommerce. Students form companies, develop a stylised business plan, obtain virtual funding, and develop a web site advertising their product and services. Once constructed, these company sites are visited by students with virtual cash and a week to spend it at the site. These users also get the opportunity to review the business plans and invest in the companies of their choice. At the conclusion of the week, each companys performance is evaluated, and both entrepreneurs and users find out how much theyre worth, virtually speaking.

7. © 2002 The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand Course Learning Environment Course Information Topics (learning guide) Portal (collaborative area) E-Playground (virtual laboratory) Help & Search

8. © 2002 The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand Course Information Course overview Your tutor Set text Readings Additional resources Assessments (individual & team) Study timetable Course FAQ Contact information Feedback Course evaluation

11. © 2002 The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand Topics Starting with e-Commerce Business issues Technology issues Public policy issues Each section/module has about 3-4 subsections

14. Topics pre-requisites Search topic Ask question related to topic e-news ticker

15. Stress management tools: games and e-fun stuff

20. © 2002 The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand Portal Announcements & news Discussion forum & chat Collaborative tools (private forums, events calendar, private messages, files upload, active users indicator, etc.) Customisation (page, bookmarks, favourite, etc.) Whole range of statistics about the activities available for members and moderator

25. © 2002 The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand e-Playground VCommerce (Virtual Commerce): tool which provide an educational and exciting simulation of early stage Internet venture startup. Auction site – tool which provide research facility and playground for students to participate in a real auction.

28. © 2002 The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand Help & Search Take a site tour Site map Site FAQ Search course information Search topics Search portal Search forum

30. © 2002 The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand Any Questions So Far?

31. © 2002 The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand Contact Information Dr Zlatko J Kovacic, Senior Lecturer School of Information Science & Humanities The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand Private Bag 31 914 Lower Hutt, NEW ZEALAND KovZla@topnz.ac.nz Phone: ++ 64 4 560 5777 Fax: ++ 64 4 560 5727 http://www.topnz.ac.nz/info/staff/KOVZLA.html