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Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are widely used by many of the top recruiters of computer science and business school graduates, providing significant business benefits when implemented effectively. While ERP concepts are taught within Universities from a theoretical point of view, few students have any hands-on experience of using an ERP system when they graduate. As a result, there is a significant gap between the way in which ERP concepts are applied in practice and the way in which they are taught in Universities. This paper describes the adoption of new, innovative material during 2006 which enhances two postgraduate courses taught at a leading UK management school and provides students with hands-on experience with an ERP system. It is argued here that this enhances their student experience, improves their employability and increases their 'readiness' for industry, thereby contributing to aligning the objectives of higher education institutions and practitioners. The paper also describes how a number of challenges to incorporating the new material within existing course structures were overcome, providing guidance for fellow academics embarking on similar ventures. Issues discussed include: coping with the uncertainty of new material, maintaining academic integrity and encouraging critical self reflection and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computing, Computer Science and Information Science are the nearest UK equivalents of the European Informatics degree. Informatics is a term more often associated with research or multidisciplinary applications of Computing. Barely five percent of UK departments concerned with the discipline actually use the word Informatics in their title, and potential students searching the application clearing house for university undergraduate courses would not find Informatics in its subject index. However the components of European understanding of the Informatics discipline are widely researched, taught and studied throughout UK Higher Education. If we are to support mobility of study in Europe or to successfully pursue international educational collaboration, then understanding the realisation of the discipline in the UK and how it relates to understanding in other countries, is important and necessary to support constructive future discussion, planning and action. This paper presents data collected via surveys of existing practice, individual interviews and group discussions. It summarises and analyses the structure of current practice, and draws on current debate and technological trends to suggest future direction of our fields of study in the short and medium term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]