The Information Age Confronts Education: Case Studies on Electronic Classrooms

Information technology is slowly becoming a part of educational classrooms and corporate training facilities. The current study examines the use and outcomes of computer-based instructional technology in the context of graduate business education. Case study data is gathered to explore how computer technology is used in the university classroom, and how computer-based teaching methods differ from traditional teaching methods in terms of class interaction and in-class learning. The study found that there are many potential computer-based teaching methods and that the methods can have different outcomes. The use of computer-based teaching methods requiring hands-on student use appear to offer an advantage over traditional methods and over computer-based methods not requiring hands-on student use in providing a forum for exploratory analysis during class and for acquiring technical procedural knowledge. A model of in-class learning is developed for future research.