Impact of the emerging discipline of information technology on computing curricula: some experiences

Information technology (IT) has recently emerged as a separate academic discipline. The IT discipline is related to, but distinct from, computer science, information systems, and software engineering. Given this relationship to existing computing programs, one should expect the driving factors that have energized the emergence of the IT discipline to have some impact on the previously existing programs as well. In this paper we report some experiences at three institutions that illustrate some of the ways the new IT discipline has influenced curricular choices. After examining these three cases, we suggest that they may help frame the curricular questions that many institutions will consider as they assess the impact of the emerging discipline of IT on their programs.