The Agile development methodology is soaring in popularity in the business world. Companies are turning to Agile to develop products quickly and to achieve digital transformation of their organization. Because of this push, companies need employees who understand Agile. Therefore, higher education is obligated to provide an understanding of Agile to students as they enter the workplace. Providing Agile experience to students who are new to programming is difficult because they are so worried about the coding aspects of the assignment, they cannot take time to think about the methodology they are using. The coding crowds out the time needed to get an understanding of how Agile actually works. One remedy for this is to use a low or no-code development platform. With this type of platform students spend less time learning to create apps, freeing them to experience the rituals and roles of Agile. This study examines using the Agile methodology along with the Microsoft Power Apps platform to provide an Agile experience to students. Two course sections were surveyed to learn if students perceived that they acquired a better understanding of Agile and to learn their perceptions of a no-code platform experience. The students completed surveys to ascertain their comfort with the Agile methodology and whether the no-code environment increased their comfort level. The results showed students perceived the no-code platform increased their comfort with using the Agile methodology. The implication is that no-code platforms can be used broadly to help students to gain experience with Agile.

Aim/Purpose: Two popular methods for encouraging active learning are Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Field Trips (VFTs). This exploratory case study examines college students’ perceptions of a prototype AR and VFT app as an active learning strategy. Background: AR allows students to learn as they physically explore a destination, while VFTs give students the opportunity to visit exciting destinations without leaving their homes. AR and VFTs promote active learning, which has been shown to increase college student success in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) courses. The aim of the VFT app in this study is to provide college students in a STEM course with an interactive lesson on modeling information systems using diagrams. Methodology: This exploratory case study is intended to serve as a condensed case study performed with the prototype version of a VFT app before implementing a large-scale investigation of students’ perceptions of a more refined version of the app. The study employed a qualitative approach involving a survey with open-ended questions to gather college students’ perceptions of learning with a VFT. The data were analyzed using inductive coding. The participants are students at a mid-sized, urban, public university. Contribution: This exploratory case study serves as a proof-of-concept and starting point for other faculty who may be interested in developing their own AR and VFT apps to engage students in active learning. Releasing the app to a common Open Educational Resources (OER) repository will give other faculty easy access to re-use the app and build upon it to create their own virtual field trips. OER are learning materials that are freely available for students and faculty to download and use in their coursework. Findings: Students overwhelmingly perceived the VFT app helped them learn about the subject that was presented, citing the visual nature of the app, the real-life scenarios presented in the app, and the app’s ease of use as reasons why. The majority (over 89%) also agreed that the app motivated them to learn more about the subject, mainly due to the app’s real-life scenarios, and over 83% of students cited at least one benefit to learning with the app, such as the navigation/location features, the easy-to-use interface, and the real-world scenarios. Recommendations for Practitioners: The pedagogical implications of this study are that faculty should adopt VFTs as an active learning strategy, particularly in STEM college courses, based on the students’ positive perceptions of learning, motivation, and benefits of VFTs. Recommendations for Researchers: Researchers can expand on this exploratory case study by conducting a larger-scale study of the VFT app employed in the case study, or by developing their own VFT app based on the one in this study, to capture a broader group of students’ perceptions of VFTs as an active learning strategy. Impact on Society: The broad impact of this research on society is encouraging the adoption of VFTs as an active learning strategy since active learning strategies are shown to increase college students’ success and engagement. Future Research: Future research will be conducted in subsequent terms to gather additional data on students’ perceptions of the VFT app, as well as their perceptions of the relationship between learning and the VFT technology. Further research is also needed to survey faculty on their perceptions of how engaging with the app impacts student learning, particularly in regards to the VFT technology within the app.

A worldwide shortage of developers has made low- and no-code platforms important and necessary. This paper investigates the use of these platforms in organizations, along with the role of workforce automation tools. A survey was conducted to find out how prevalent low- and no-code platforms and workforce automation tools are within companies. These platforms are used by citizen developers, employees who are working outside of the Information Technology (IT) department and are not professional programmers. With low- and no-code platforms citizen developers can create the applications that are needed by their work units or even their entire organizations. These platforms are seen as key to the demands of digital transformation. The results of this study are that companies both large and small are making use of low- and no-code platforms, as well as workforce automation tools. In addition, the majority of organizations have employees outside of the IT department who are creating technology solutions. The broad implication of this research is that citizen developers using low- and no-code platforms to create technology solutions may be the solution to the current shortage of developers. By using low- and no-code platforms, the citizen developer can create the applications that the manager needs for their team. This increases the technology available to the organization while at the same time reducing the pressure on the IT department.

The pandemic hindered students’ access to technology by exacerbating the digital divide, particularly for those from underserved populations, such as students of color and low-income students. This case study focuses on the unique experiences of information systems students drawn from a population of underserved students, one year after the pandemic’s onset. The study examines whether the students’ perceptions of their access to technology and progress in technology courses is consistent with early literature on the pandemic. Pedagogical suggestions are provided to help faculty mitigate the negative factors that students described as hurting their progress in technology courses. Contrary to the initial literature on the pandemic, the majority of students reported no difficulty accessing technology. Surprisingly, the slight majority of students felt the pandemic had no impact or a positive impact on their technology course progress. The broad implication for the field of technology education is that the digital divide is not necessarily deepening one year into the pandemic.