The University of Minnesota’s AccessE.info program

This program consists of a portfolio of program elements, including e-commerce, e-government, e-nonprofit, e-internet, and e-broadband. These program elements are complementary in nature, allowing students and instructors to consider a broad range of program design options based upon need.

Each program element includes a range of workshop PowerPoint presentations, instructors’ manuals, and other support materials to equip teachers and community leaders with the tools to deliver programs. Programs range from a four-session, 12-hour program to a one-hour overview of e-commerce for small-to-medium sized businesses. In addition, there are variations of the core program tailored to specific audiences including artisans, farm marketers, and Spanish-speaking business owners.

In addition to guides for instructors and those interested in business development much of the material is made available publicly. The course is organized along the following themes:

• Electronic Commerce Basics
• Finding Business Information and Services Online
• Exploring E-Commerce Web sites
• Planning Your Web site
• Promoting Your Web site
• Developing Your Internet Business Plan

The most obvious place to replace or augment existing case studies in the Minnesota program is in the “Exploring E-commerce Web sites” sessions. If you have solid information on the direction of e-commerce education prior to the first session, they can then select case studies most likely to appeal to stated interests. If specific educational goals are not recognized up front, then a wide variety of case studies should be used. This would expand participants’ knowledge of the various ways businesses are using e-commerce. In later sessions, more specific case studies can be selected to illustrate highlighted points of interest.

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