News Releases

School of Business offers new online course for non-majors

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

BY AUSTIN FALLEY

Non-business majors will have a new way to learn about information systems in fall 2010 through an online course. IST 205 "Survey of Information Systems" is one of the six required courses in the Business Minor. The online offering of IST 205 will be conducted entirely on Blackboard and will first be made available to non-Lawrence students.

"This is the first online course in the School of Business," lecturer Mark Best said. "We're hoping to give more flexibility to students at the Edwards Campus or students hoping to transfer credit to other schools."

Students will use Blackboard to gain hands-on practice in information systems technology. The online IST 205 course will cover a range of topics, including computer software and hardware, databases, e-business and e-commerce, Microsoft Excel and information security.

"Students interested in taking IST 205 online will have to be motivated and responsible in order to complete assignments on time," Best said. "They will be able to test out the theories we discuss in the course. I'll be doing some live online meetings with students and using the Wiki tool and discussion board on Blackboard to enhance communication and student collaboration."

While IST 205 is the only class available online, the School of Business plans to add more online classes in the near future, including at least one graduate course this fall. IST 205 online will be restricted to non-Lawrence students until Aug. 1. Students interested in taking IST 205 online must contact Continuing Education for enrollment information.


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