1 Web-TRECS: The Design and Use of an E-commerce Business Simulation

A challenge for eCommerce educators is the development of teaching tools and environments which provide tertiary students and business people with practically-based opportunities for learning about the business potential of eCommerce. Business simulation approaches to eCommerce education are a particularly effective way in which to provide students with these pedagogic opportunities [see 10]. What is less certain, however, is how Web-based business simulations can be developed and used to teach eCommerce. This paper describes the way in which we developed such a Web-based eCommerce business simulation called Web-TRECS. The paper discusses some innovative approaches to the development of this teaching tool, including components of the Web-TRECS application which allow educators to design their own manufacturing supply chains for use in WebTRECS and which dynamically generates online participant manuals and instructions based on these alternative supply chain designs. The paper then outlines the types of eCommerce teaching objectives which can be addressed using Web-TRECS based on our initial experiences with this tool and our extensive experience with non-Web versions of TRECS.