Sms Based Information Student Information System
Teaching Information Systems Development with SMS
Chris Wallace
Information Systems School
Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences
University of the West of England Frenchay, Bristol BS16 1QY
chris.wallace@uwe.ac.uk
Abstract
‘Texting’ or SMS mobile phone messaging is rapidly increasing in business and community use. This paper discusses the inclusion of SMS technology in the teaching of Information Systems Development. It is argued that SMS has advantages in terms of simplicity of development, encouragement of good development practice and the breadth of information systems concerns exposed.
Key words
Texting, SMS, mobile communication, information systems development.
1. Introduction
The final year module Information Systems Development 3 (ISD3) is taken mainly by students on our Computing and Information Systems award. These students have had some exposure to Java in their first year and to Microsoft Access application development in their second year. In the final year we seek to broaden the range of application technologies by introducing 3-tier web-based applications. Typically these have a browser in the presentation layer, PL/SQL or PHP in the application layer and Oracle or MySQL in the persistence layer.
One difficulty with this module is to get a balance between the concerns and approaches to Information Systems Development on one hand and the narrower concerns of program and database development on the other. The goal here is not to develop great programming or software engineering ability but to develop awareness of information systems in their organisational, human and societal context, addressing issues of the role of information itself, its meaning, quality and value, human-human as well as human-machine communication and the design of business process.
Browser-fronted applications, as a technology to support information systems, are full of interest and possibilities but in the opinion of the author, they also
Chris Wallace
Information Systems School
Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences
University of the West of England Frenchay, Bristol BS16 1QY
chris.wallace@uwe.ac.uk
Abstract
‘Texting’ or SMS mobile phone messaging is rapidly increasing in business and community use. This paper discusses the inclusion of SMS technology in the teaching of Information Systems Development. It is argued that SMS has advantages in terms of simplicity of development, encouragement of good development practice and the breadth of information systems concerns exposed.
Key words
Texting, SMS, mobile communication, information systems development.
1. Introduction
The final year module Information Systems Development 3 (ISD3) is taken mainly by students on our Computing and Information Systems award. These students have had some exposure to Java in their first year and to Microsoft Access application development in their second year. In the final year we seek to broaden the range of application technologies by introducing 3-tier web-based applications. Typically these have a browser in the presentation layer, PL/SQL or PHP in the application layer and Oracle or MySQL in the persistence layer.
One difficulty with this module is to get a balance between the concerns and approaches to Information Systems Development on one hand and the narrower concerns of program and database development on the other. The goal here is not to develop great programming or software engineering ability but to develop awareness of information systems in their organisational, human and societal context, addressing issues of the role of information itself, its meaning, quality and value, human-human as well as human-machine communication and the design of business process.
Browser-fronted applications, as a technology to support information systems, are full of interest and possibilities but in the opinion of the author, they also
References: Attewell, J and Saville-Smith C (eds) (2004) Learning with Mobile Devices: Research and Development, Learning and Skills Development Agency Cheverest, K et al (2003) , SPAM on the Menu: the Practical use of Remote Messaging in Community Care, ACM Conference on Universal Usability 2003, pp23-29 Clickall SMS Bulk SMS Gateway URL www.clicktell.com [ accessed 7 Jan 2004] Dixon, M., QSEE Multicase tool URL : www.qsee-technologies.com [ accessed 7 Jan 2004] Peersman, G et al (2000) , A tutorial overview of the short message service within GSM, Computing and Control Engineering Journal April 2000, pp79-89 Soon,l. and Sugden,D. (2003) Engaging Students Through SMS Messaging, in FERL Annual Conference 2003 Wallace, C., SMS Services in the Information Systems School. URL www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/~cjwallac/apps/sms [accessed 7 Jan 2004]