Lesson plan: E-commerce challenge

August 22, 2000
Web posted at 7:11 p.m. EST (2311 GMT)

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Objectives

Students will:

• Determine the factors that are necessary for countries to receive high "e-readiness" ratings.
• Compare and contrast the "e-readiness" of two countries.

Standards

Content Standard E (grades nine-12)

High school students should know that technology, by its nature, has a more direct effect on society than science because its purpose is to solve human problems, help humans adapt and fulfill human aspirations.

Benchmarks for Science Literacy

High school students should know that social and economic forces strongly influence which technologies will be developed and used. That which prevails is affected by many factors, such as personal values, consumer acceptance, patent laws, availability of risk capital, the federal budget, local and national regulations, media attention, economic competition and tax incentives.

National Standards for Social Studies
VIII. Science, Technology and Society

High school students will need to think more deeply about how people can manage technology so that people control it rather than the other way around.

Suggested time

One class period

Materials

CNNfyi article, " 'E-readiness' not so easy"
Internet access
Maps
Poster boards for charts

Procedures

1. Ask students:

• What is e-commerce? How do you think e-commerce has affected the human population?
• Do you think that all countries have equal technological opportunities?

• What is e-commerce, according to the article?
• What are McConnell International and World Information Technology and Services Alliance? What did they do? How do these companies measure countries for their "e-readiness"?
• What are two of the best-prepared countries? What are some countries that received lower e-readiness ratings?
• Why do you think it is important for countries to have this advanced technology?

Assessment

Place two large poster boards on a wall, one titled "low e-rating" and the other "high e-rating." Have each student write the countries they studied onto the appropriate boards. Look at a world map to determine where the countries of low and high e-readiness are. See if students detect any patterns in locations, politics or economics. Have a class discussion on ways that countries can improve their e-readiness.

Accommodations

Logical/mathematical: Have each student create a list of how his/her school relies on information technology. Then have each student list ways that his/her school could improve to become more e-ready.

Challenges

Students can role-play that they are a leader of a country with limited information technology. Have them write letters to a leader of a country that has a tremendous amount of technology, requesting help. To do this, they need to evaluate the state of their country and have knowledge of what they need to improve their country's rating.