2007-8 Spring Course: Intro to Virtual Worlds (Shenkar)

As part of the Department of Software Engineering at the Shenkar College of Engineering and Design I will teach my Into to Virtual Worlds Course. The course will allow students to explore the Theory and Practice of Virtual Worlds.

For a review of the Course in Second Life see an on-line presentation in world here (SLURL).
Access course materials for students here (need password).

2007-8 Spring Course: Business Strategy and Information Systems (Bar Ilan)

I'm collaborating with Raz Heiferman (CIO of Direct Insurance) I will teach a management course at the Bar Ilan Executive MBA.

The course will discuss the linkage between the competitive strategy of the firm and the information technology (IT). During the last years this linkage has become more and more evident and many firms have learned to leverage the IT to improve their competitive position, to reengineer their processes, to improve customer loyalty and decrease churn, to develop new and innovative services, to improve their decision making processes and establish a collaborative work place for their knowledge workers. The topics covered will be:

• IT – a commodity or a strategic asset – how IT has changed the environment we live and work and how companies and markets have changed due the shift from the industrial era to the information era. We will discuss Nicholas Carr's "IT Doesn't Matter" article and ask if IT has really become a commodity, as he claims, or are they a strategic asset.
• IT Components – what are the major components of IT and what are the different categories of information systems (e.g. TPS, DSS, KM, ERP, CRM. OA etc.)
• Competitive Analysis and IT – we will use Porter's 5 forces model and the RBV (Resource Based View) as the framework to analyze how IT can change the competitive position of a firm and as a valuable competitive resource.
• Value Chain and Business Processes – we will use Porter's value chain model to discuss how IT supports almost every value creating activity
• How IT supports Competitive Strategy – we will discuss Porter's generic strategies and discuss how IT can be used to support them
• Operational Innovation – we will use Hammer's operational innovation concept presented in his "Deep Change" article to show how IT can be used as a major platform to innovate new business models and processes.
• Competing on Analytics – we will use Davenport's "Competing on Analytics" article to show how some of the leading companies are using business analytics to be more competitive and customer focused
• New Trends in IT – The enterprise IT is changing. Mega trends like outsourcing, SAAS, SOA, Metaverse, no-software and web 2.0 are chancing the face of IT. We will review these trends and their potential impact on IT and the Business.
• Google-ware – While most people see Google as a search service, in fact, Google has more then 60 services including email, picture sharing, blog, Wiki, office, desktop search, I-Google, social network, video, etc. Furthermore, all services are closely and seemingly integrated to create an inescapable web (e.g., you manage your blog pictures with the picture service; you can view word files from email docs & spreadsheets). We will review the company that is single handedly changing the way we work and have fun.
• Collaboration and Enterprise 2.0 – we will use McAfee's "Enterprise 2.0 – The Dawn of Emergent Collaboration" article to show how the usage of Web 2.0 technologies and social software can improve the internal and external collaboration between business partners.
• IT Governance – we will explain why the company that wants to leverage IT has to introduce governance processes and demand management techniques that will ensure the alignment between the business strategy and IT investments and projects.

2007-8 Spring Course: Googleware as Active Media (Afeka)

In the Spring semseter, 2008 I will teach for the first time an experimental course called "GoogleWare" -- it is aimed at advanced students who are into looking at the phenomenon that is changing the nature of our lives.

The focus of this course would be the in-depth understanding of the Google phenomenon. I came across Google about two years ago via search (like most people). Yet during my work in the last year, as I was investigating long-term Media/IT trends, I have learned about the "true" nature of the phenomenon and why Google market capital is almost as big as IBM (!).

While most people see Google as a search service, in fact, Google has more then 60 services including email, picture sharing, blog, Wiki, office, desktop search, I-Google, social network, video, etc. Furthermore, all services are closely and seemingly integrated to create an inescapable web (e.g., you manage your blog pictures with the picture service; you can view word files from email docs & spreadsheets). Once a service has captured you – you are slowly and surely tempted to get more services. Each service you use, adds another layer of comfort and value.

Many people think Google is search; some think it is an operating system – I maintain that Google is defining a new kind of Media. A medium that is in fact already changing the way we work, play, and engage.

Google is not only replacing services; it is doing it with grace and elegance. Google products are simply better, faster, and stronger than the competitor's. Gmail program is unique in terms of search, filing, and anti-spam. Further more, Gmail allow you to read documents, and spreadsheet on-line on any device (including my Nokia e-61) with no further software. Google is teaching the world how to work more effectively. They even changed how we view advertisement – no longer annoying but informative and educational.

Furthermore, Google has the fastest innovation cycle in the industry. Google is not afraid to close services that do not work (i.e., Google Answers); buy competitors (double-click, you-tube) – and incorporate them into the Google web quickly; hire the best people around. With zero legacy, no need to worry about multiple platforms (all is web) – they are moving faster and faster.

The latest shift into the enterprise market is an example. With $50 a year per user, a Small Medium Business (SMB) can run its entire IT in Google – more effectively. Google is yet to prove itself in the different-then-consumer corporate market. But my encounter with Google 800-help-line show they are in the right direction.

2007-8 Fall Course: Virtual Worlds Engineering: Internet, Metaverse and Society (Afeka)

An update version of my intro course to the metaverse (see course description) was given during this semester. We (with Hillel who was my teaching assistant) pushed for a bit more programming which led to new cool products.

2007-8 Fall Course: Etgaim (honors) course -- (Afeka)

In one of my classes (ETGARIM seminar) students (honors students in Afeka College) dealt with the ultimate task... Build an egg proctor from 20 wooden sticks.
In this 90 min session the students experience planning, development, and testing -- all packed into real engineering tasks. They study the environment, their tools, and the competitive landscape.

:-) All of the students are ok, and most of the eggs.

2006-7 Summer Course: Virtual Life: MBA Business Simulation (Bar Ilan)

As part of the Bar Ilan University MBA school, this EMBA course is two fold:

1. To introduce the Metaverse as a new form of fun, work, and being.
2. To facilitate an integrative business process of a new market, new product, marketing, sales.

The platform we will use is Second Life (one of the first example to the Metaverse).

Topics:

1. Get to know the world
2. Products and services in the Metaverse
3. The business environment
4. Project Presentations

Lab Location (SLURL).
Course Site (internal).

Remote Resources in Second Life

For information -- and a mini workshop -- as to how to connect Second Life see this page
Using Remote resources in Second Life. (Was written by Alon Shalita in 2007 as part of our Tel Aviv University course).

2006-7 Spring Course: Software Workshop - Motion Planning in Virtual Environments (Tel Aviv)

Prof. Dan Halperin (Tel Aviv University) and myself will teach a Software Workshop at the School of Computer Science, Tel Aviv University.

This is aprogramming-intensive course for 3rd year undergrads.

The assignment in this workshop is to plan a collision free motion for moving bodies (robots) in an environment cluttered with obstacles. The major platform will be SecondLife, which is one of the first programmable Metaverse platforms. Several problems will be proposed as well as different solution approaches.
Possible projects:

• Robot getting out of a maze


• Hover (flying) chair


• Snake (multi-link) robots; follow-me dog

More projects will be proposed in class. Students are encouraged to propose their own projects.

Prerequisites: Software 1, Software Project, Algorithms, Data Structures.

See Course Home Page

2006-7 Spring Course: Virtual Worlds Engineering: Internet, Metaverse and Society (Afeka)

Update: An update version of this course was given in the Fall of 2007-8.

In the Spring Semester, 2006-7 I will over a review course in the metaverse. for more details see the course description. Here is the course description:

The Metaverse world – while still in its initial phase – is becoming a key to the internet industry. The Metaverse is a parallel 3-Dimensional world in which people act, work, and – mostly – have fun. Leading organizations like IBM, Toyota and Dell are already active in this world. The Metaverse was born out of the world of gaming and the world of the participatory web (web 2.0). The goal of the course is to acquaint students with key concepts, and key patterns on the Metaverse. The course will deal with:

1. Get to know the virtual worlds: Wow, Second Life,. There, IMVU, Habbo.


2. Get to know the engineering challenges in the technology and business sides.


3. Practical experience in building products, services, and work plans for the Metaverse.
   

The course will be based on classroom demos and home work. Ohh yes. You do get academic credit for playing games!!. Warning: the Metaverse can be very addictive. Please be aware of that.

See course Home Page