Friday, 20 October 2006

IBM Develops Courses in Web 2.0 Technologies for University Students

IBM and The University of Arizona have joined hands in a collaborative initiative to develop a course aimed at helping developers build online communities and social network systems using Web 2.0 technologies. The curriculum, which is designed to equip students with skills in the creation and management of online communities, will be offered to the Management Information Systems Department (MIS) and Marketing students in The University of Arizona's Eller College of Management.

Analyst firm Gartner Group predicts that by 2008, the majority of Global 1,000 companies will quickly adopt several technology-related aspects of Web 2.0 to advance their businesses. As companies increase their reliance on new Web-based technologies to capitalise on new business opportunities, the industry is showing greater demand for technology experts who can build and manage Web 2.0 resources including wikis, blogs, user groups and forums. The IBM/University of Arizona partnership brings these principles to the classroom, giving students early exposure to emerging technologies. This is also the first in a new suite of courses from the MIS Department related to managing and marketing online services, IBM said.

Co-developed by the MIS Department and IBM, the new course is designed to reinvigorate undergraduate student interest in information technology. According to a recent report from the Association for Computer Machinery, the number of newly declared computer science majors has declined by an average of 32 percent in the last four years. Designed to appeal to a new generation of students who are well familiar with online communities like MySpace, this new course aims to help students build practical and information management skills that can be applied to a variety of industries and businesses.