Learning About Outsourcing in College?

nial-in-a-box asks: "I just started my software engineering course today at Loyola University Chicago and I found out that I will be learning hands-on about outsourcing. My classmates and I will be outsourcing parts of projects to students at another university, and then those students will be doing the same for us. This seems like it could be rather interesting. Has anyone out there been in a class like this before? Any other ideas on how to effectively teach about the implications of outsourcing (especially pointing out that outsourcing doesn't necessarily mean no jobs upon graduation)?"

Comments

sure

[pizza_milkshake]

they could outsource the entire class (except for "upper management", i.e. the prof). the students would have a few weeks to prep foreigners on what they would do in various situations, and then the professor could teach the foreigners via conference calls while the students go look for other classes.

It's the new cruelty..er..curriculum

[isaac]

This is part of the new curriculum being phased in at CS programs around the country. The next phase will have you deposit your diploma into a shredder for recycling after you cross the stage. You'll then be loaded onto a container ship and be sent to a reprocessing facility in China, where you'll become something useful, like soylent green.

-Isaac

You've got the intentions wrong.

[DarylBeattie]

Regarding question 1; Yes, the University of Toronto Computer Science classes have been doing this for years, but mainly between groups within the same class or classes.

Question 2; I hate to point out the obvious, but they are not teaching you about "outsourcing"; they are really just using that as a term to describe what you will be doing. They are attempting to teach you how to work with others effectively when face-to-face communication is not always possible. In programming, this means properly internally and externally documenting code, and defining clear interfaces. Since this is a situation will come across very often in the working world, it is important to learn. Also, in this class you are not only held accountable to your professor, but also to the students in the other school.

I believe it is an excellent way to teach important lessons to students. When you have an interview with a company, I would suggest pointing out this class to the interviewers and telling them what you learned from it; it'll probably impress them. Have fun! :)