Abstract
Teaching informatics (information systems) at the university level in North America is challenging. The teacher in Canada and the United States can be compared to a juggler performing before many spectators. The juggler strives to keep in the air multiple balls that cross each other’s path. A student-learner ball may collide with a student-customer ball, teacher’s needs for new technology and better technological support are countered by funding limitations, while attempts for asserting academic self-identity get confronted by incongruent attributions that the spectators create. Opposed balls come even from the field colleagues when the character of the field and teaching prospects are at stake. The article analyses these tensions and outlines prospects of teaching information systems in North America.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Attewell, P.: Information technology and the productivity paradox. In: Organizational Linkages: Understanding the Productivity Paradox, pp. 13–53 (1994)
Carr, N.G.: IT doesn’t matter. Educause Rev. 38, 24–38 (2003)
Looney, C.A., Firth, D., Koch, H., Cecez-Kecmanovic, D., Hsieh, J.P.A., Soh, C., Valacich, J.S., Whitley, E.A.: The credibility crisis in IS: a global stakeholder perspective. Commun. Assoc. Inf. Syst. 34(1), 1175–1189 (2014)
Roach, S.: No productivity boom for workers. Issues Sci. Technol. 14(4), 49–56 (1998)
Travica, B.: Examining the Informing View of Organization: Applying Theoretical and Managerial Approaches. IGI Global, Hershey (2014)
U.S. News, the World Report: Management information systems rankings (2016). http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/business-management-information-systems
U15: Group of Canadian research universities (2016). http://u15.ca/
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Travica, B. (2016). Teaching Informatics in North America: Jugglers Wanted. In: Gruner, S. (eds) ICT Education. SACLA 2016. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 642. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47680-3_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47680-3_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-47679-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-47680-3
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)