The story of how I came to end up taking this class is pretty funny. I had no intention of taking a 3 hour MIS elective until I realized that it was my last resort. I knew that I’d dread staying on campus from 4-7 everyday but I was mistaken as this was my favorite class in the MIS department. After the first day of class, I took interest in the unconventional way that the class would be taught and I could tell that it’d be a semester that I would actually enjoy.
Guest Speakers
As a major component of this class, guest speakers brought light to the teaching format that Professor Kane knew and loved. His vast network placed him in a position where he was able to bring in multiple entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, etc… to come and speak with us. Their professions stretched across all kinds of fields from freelance platforms to national banks so we were able to learn something different every week. I didn’t take their advice lightly because these individuals have walked through the path that I am currently aiming for so being able to hear the obstacles they faced and what they learned can only help me. There was one particular speaker, Rich Nanda, whose viewpoints were in correlation with mine. He attended business school, which I intend to do, and works around the consulting field which are my plans after graduation. Seeing what he’s achieved kept me motivated and made me more confident in myself. His monologue on digitally native companies vs legacy companies was insightful and led me to do some of my own research. The guest speakers were a great addition to this class and I am grateful that Professor Kane gave us the opportunity.
Current Tech News
This class had a strong emphasis on generative artificial intelligence, specifically on the current tech supporting it and how it’ll affect our future. From ChatGPT to Microsoft copilot, this class pushed me to learn more about why big tech companies are investing so much into AI and what they hope will come from it. I’ve always been an avid reader of the news but MIST5720 has helped me keep up with the tech sector since the beginning of this year and now the habit has been instilled into me. It’s essential to understand what’s going on in tech because of how it may negatively or positively impact your future career such as Software Engineers. There has been word of prompt engineers that work side by side ChatGPT instead of taking on the entire responsibility themselves. Some information that I read even pertains to my future discipline in consulting which makes me glad that I took the initiative to inform myself. Now I find myself checking tech news the second I get up from bed and that is something I can thank MIST5720 for.
Tweeting
Now let’s get to my favorite part of this class. This ties back to my statement of current tech news as Twitter was the driving force that led me to check news everyday. The reason I loved Twitter was because of how I could interact with other students and see what type of tech or news that they’re interested in. Twitter was successful in this class because it didn’t feel like I was doing work, instead I felt like I was simply just on social media which is why it came so easy to many. Every morning, I found myself scrolling on the feed so that I could see what interesting events happened the previous day. If this class is taught in the future, I definitely recommend Twitter be a large part of the course.
Class friends
Without a doubt, I can say that I’ve met some great people in this class. Aside from class discussions, we can have lighthearted talks in this class where we just talk about anything. There was one day about two weeks ago where we had an hour break and the class was able to hangout in the courtyard. I’ve had many laughs from this class and made many connections that I will hold on to for many years to come. Going to Calin and Tito’s last week was also one of the highlights of the semester, thank you again Professor Kane!
Conclusion
I remember being confused in the beginning of this class and wondered how I was going to keep up with the assignments and blogs but it came easier to me than I thought. Not having tests in this class took a little pressure off and enabled me to learn because I wanted to not because I was forced to. I hope this class can continue so that others can share this incredible learning experience with me.
Hi Michael, I am with you on all of your takeaways from this course. My Twitter feed is one of my main source of news now, and I have learned so much from it. Hopefully future UGA students can have the same enlightenment as us. I’m also glad to see another anti-test person. I learned more in this class than any of my other classes despite having no tests. Best of luck in the future!
I also had a similar decision to make at the beginning of the semester, Michael. The deciding factor was really on me. Did I want to take this last semester to learn about Digital Innovation and entrepreneurship? Or did I want to coast and cruise as a spring semester senior? I’m thrilled to choose the former. It became my favorite class in the whole department. I feel like I can take the knowledge in the course to grow in my career and personal development. I can’t thank Dr. Kane enough for that.
Haha. Glad to have you in the class, but I’m glad you took it. I really didn’t *indend* the class outside to be an hour “break” but I’m glad you enjoyed it. Nice work!
Hey Michael! I had similar thoughts when I first registered for this class and didn’t want to be on campus till 7 pm. I left many classes being hungry out of my mind. Although I wasn’t the biggest fan of Twitter, I will admit it allows for a lot of interaction between students that blogging doesn’t.
Hey Michael! I have pretty similar feelings specifically about the class forcing me in a way to keep up with tech news. It was extremely valuable in many interviews and conversations that I had to be able to pull out up to date information with these high level people!
Hi Michael! I agree with all the points you made to summarize the class! You did a great job hosting your tow presentations, and brough a great experience to the class. The current tech news was definitely my favorite part of the class.
Great way to recap the semester Michael! It really does sum up everything we did over the past few months. I appreciate the blog posts you had over the semester from banks to real estate to venture capitalism, it was all great for learning!