As part of designing a new Master’s programme entitled Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship there was an apparent need to include a unit involving the use of innovative technologies for the development of innovative products and services. The authors aim was therefore to introduce students to Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Agents using, however, different from “mainstream” practices since the programme is addressed to students from varying, not necessarily Computer Science related, backgrounds. In this work they report their approach and experience from the entire process -from designing the unit, taking into consideration some inherent restrictions such as coordination of teachers and short duration of the course, to delivering it to a diverse audience that requires different didactic methods to be employed. Their primary aim is to disseminate their ideas and report good practice to fellow educators that may face similar situations or wish to employ any of our techniques.
TopThe Context: A Master’S Programme In Technology, Innovation And Entrepreneurship
The programme under which we delivered the course is called MSc in Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, TIE for short (MSc in Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship - Programme Description, 2007), and its curriculum includes the following courses: Knowledge Society and ICT Policy, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Managing Strategic Change, ICT for Strategic Management, Managing Knowledge-Driven ICT Projects, Internetworked Business Enterprises, Innovation Management and New Product Development, and Research Methods followed by a Dissertation. As is obvious from the curriculum, the programme contains a mixture of technology and business issues and aims to tie Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship as the three key drivers of economic growth, provide an integrated, strategic view of management of technology and address the contemporary challenges general managers face today (MSc in Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship - Programme Specification, 2007).
Due to the nature of the programme, the courses do not provide any room for technical skills to be acquired. The programme is aimed at graduates, not necessarily of Computer Science or related disciplines, who would like to acquire and/or enhance their knowledge and skills in Business Management. The focus, however, is not on merely acquiring business management skills, but on understanding how innovation can be driven and managed for the purpose of creating agile businesses and organisations that can take the lead and remain competitive in a globalised economy.
When designing the programme, its proposers suggested that there is room for a course that would include AI and IA, since they can be thought of as innovative technologies as well as technologies which can lead to innovative products and give opportunities for entrepreneurship.
A number of restrictions, however, had to be taken into consideration for the design of such a course. For example, since this programme is aimed at graduates who may already be employed:
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the mode of delivery of all courses is over long weekends, one for each course, i.e. each of the courses is delivered over three days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday).
Additional restrictions include the following: