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ASSESSING THE USE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR LEARNING IN EMERGING COUNTRIES
Mazen Ali University of Bahrain, Bahrain mali@uob.edu.bh Yousuf Salim AlHinai Sultan Qaboos University, Oman yalhinai@squ.edu.om

ABSTRACT With globalization and the revolutions in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), the world economy has undergone fundamental re-structuring from an industrial economy to a one that is based on knowledge facilitated by innovative technologies. Given the capability of Information Technology to dramatically increase the amount and timeliness of information, the implication of ICT on emerging countries, as producers and users of ICT, became evident. In the education sector, the utilization of ICT in the sharing of knowledge has become an important strategic pillar for economic development in the 21st century. In this area, simulation role-play games were developed as effective tools to enhance students learning process and are increasingly being used to replace traditional role-play games. However, it is still unclear whether such imported ICT solutions can yield the same expected results in emerging countries. Based on an experimental design involving two groups of students playing the manual and computerized Beer Game, this study aims to examine how imported ICT-based learning tools can enhance students learning compared to methods traditionally used in emerging countries. This study provides useful insights to both researchers and educators interested in understanding the opportunities and challenges in adopting ICT solutions to enhance education sectors in emerging countries. Keywords: e-learning, Beer Game, role-play game, ICT, emerging countries, Bahrain 1. INTRODUCTION Organizations in developed countries have been actively engaged in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) practices to support its growth and improve their performance (Dedrick et al., 2003). Globally, organizations in these countries have used ICT to increase sales (Hitt and Brynjolfsson, 1998), improve employee productivity (Bresnahan et al., 2002) and reduce costs (Dedrick et al., 2003). The use of ICT has not only been limited to private sector but educational institutes have also started using various ICT or e-learning tools such as, blackboard, smart board and simulation games to facilitate the learning process. While there has been a tremendous growth in the rate of ICT adoption in advanced economies, emerging economies are still lagging behind. Most ICT tools have been developed in advanced countries that have different culture, economical and social situation, which create barriers to adoption in emerging countries. The implementation and use of ICT in emerging countries differ from mature countries (Roztocki and Weistroffer, 2009). As such, to advance in this area, there needs to be more studies that investigate ICT adoption in emerging countries. The United Nations recognizes that the best way for emerging countries to advance their world ranking is to integrate ICT in schools and universities (Daveri, 2000). The use of ICT by learners increases knowledge sharing, improves skills of workers, creates more effective education systems and enhances economic development of any country (Kraemer and Dedrick, 1994; Daveri, 2000; Schreyer, 2003). Given the importance of ICT in the education systems of any country, the objective of this study is to assess how ICT solutions

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such as the Beer Game, which are created in (and for) developed countries, improve learning of students in emerging countries. We achieve this by investigating the use of computer role-play games, namely the Beer Game, in improving students understanding of the classroom material in a university in Bahrain as an example of an emerging country. We choose Bahrain as context of this study because its considered an emerging economy with high readiness for integration with the world economy. According the Economic Freedom Index 2011 report Bahrain is ranked as the 10th freest economy in the world and the freest economy in the Middle East. Bahrain is located in the Gulf region with the total population of approximately 1.2 million over an area of 665 square meters. It is an archipelago of 33 islands east of Saudi Arabia. The official language is Arabic. English, however, is the main language for commercial purposes and is widely spoken within the country. An experimental research was conducted with two groups of students from a university in Bahrain by playing a role-play game called Beer Game. The Beer Game is chosen because it is one of the most widely used role-play game in Logistics, Supply Chain Management and Information Systems. This learning tool was originally developed in the USA and it was then imported and adopted in more than 224 universities from 47 countries (Reimer, 2011). The University of Bahrain is among the universities that have recently started using this game to enhance student learning. 2. ICT MANAGEMENT IN EMERGING ECONOMIES In the late 1990s, a common consensus among many business leaders, investors, journalists and politicians became evident that the world economy was undergoing fundamental restructuring led by two main drivers: globalization and the revolution in ICT (Pohjola, 2002). The shift from industrial world economy to a one that is driven by globalization and ICT was evident through the fast-growth of dotcom companies, the rapid improvements in quality of existing ICT and the dramatic diffusion of new ICT (e.g. the Internet), the decline in prices of equipment and software, and the convergence between computing and communication technologies were a clear evidence of the new ICT-based economy. Since then, labels such as post-industrial society, information society, innovation economy, knowledge economy, network economy, digital economy, weightless economy, and e-conomy became more commonly used to point out the ongoing transformation of our world economy (Cohen et al., 2000). Given the capability of Information Technology to dramatically increase the amount and timeliness of information available to economic agents and the productive processes to organize, process, communicate, store, and retrieve information, the implication of ICT on emerging countries, as producers and users of ICT became evident (Hanna, 1994). With the view of ICT as a critical contributor to economic development, governments of several emerging countries have made significant ICT investments in important sectors such as health, agriculture, manufacturing, public administration and education (Sei and Harindranath, 2004). In the education sector, the utilization of the strong global derives towards ICT in the acquisition, storing, and sharing of knowledge in educational institutions have become an important strategic pillar and a clear requirement for economic development in the 21st century (Sarkar, 2012). ICT bring together traditionally separated educational technologies (e.g. books, writing, telephone, television, photography, databases, games and more) by bridging various forms of knowledge and literacy into an intersection of places of learning such as home, school, work and community (Livingstone, 2012). The wide spread of ICT in educational environments imply a paradigm shift in both the use of ICT tools in education and the subsequent changes in human relations leading to
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new pattern of communication and collaboration between students and teachers (Kahn, 2005; Khan, 2012). These emerging ICT-driven trends have made it evident that the traditional learning methods, which are usually teacher-centered, have become less useful for complex tasks and complex problems in a modern society (Hmelo-Silver, 2004; Schmidt et al., 2009). As a result, an active approach to learning in education has become more important, whereby a teacher-centered teaching method is replaced by student-centered approaches (Pence & Wulf, 2009; Schmidt, et al., 2009; Van den Bossche, et al., 2004; Wang, 2009). This has posed a challenge on teachers to understand and apply innovative digital tools and to create a learning environment where both teachers and students play a critical role in their learning (Mishra and Koehler, 2006). Given that learning using innovative ICT is a dynamic research area, there is a continuous need for further investigation and creation of more innovative solutions that can seamlessly integrate ICT into learning and education (Khan, 2012). 3. ROLE-PLAY GAMES Role-play games are educational techniques that aim to provide the student with a simplified reproduction of part of a real world or imaginary world (Van Ments, 1999). These games create a system where students play roles in a controlled setting with a particular set of rules (Feinstein, Mann and Corsum, 2002). The use of these techniques helps students relate theoretical concepts taught in class to complex real life situations. More specifically, the purpose of role-play games is to help students learn the material by focusing on not only hearing and seeing but also doing (Specht and Sandlin, 1991). Given the benefits of role-play games in facilitating student-learning behavior, it has been used in many fields such as health care (Woodward et al., 1988), mathematics (Lee and Chen, 2009), medicine (Joyner and Young, 2006) and Information Systems (Reimer, 2008). In the past, instructors relied on traditional or manual role-play games to foster students learning processes. This type of role-play games is where the instructor uses paper, pens, and objects and so on to replicate a system. However, implementing manual role-play games in classrooms becomes tedious because it takes time to organize and set-up the game and requires active involvement of the instructor (Reimer, 2008). More recently, with the advancement of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), there have been a shift from manual role-play games to computer simulation for use in educational settings because the latter provides visualization and ease of use to foster the learning process among students (DeNeve and Heppener, 1994). A number of studies have indicated that computer role-play games in classrooms play an effective role in enhancing learning (Aubusson et al., 1997; DeNeve and Heppner, 1997; Rendas, et al., 1999). However, all these studies have been conducted in advanced economies. Currently, there are limited studies that provide a deeper understanding on how these games promote students learning process and whether these games have the same influence on students from emerging economies. 3.1. Beer Game The Beer Game is a role-play simulation of a supply chain, which includes four roles, namely the factory, distributor, wholesaler and retailer. The aim of the game is to manufacture and deliver units of beer. The consumer (usually the instructor) drives the game by providing consumer demand on a weekly basis to the retailer and based on the demand, the retailer orders units of beer through two stages (wholesaler and distributor) until it reaches the factory. The factory then manufacturers the products and delivers the units, through three other stages (distributor, wholesaler and retailer) until it reaches the final consumer. A group of students (two to four) are assigned to each of the four roles in the supply chain. The game runs in weeks (rounds). It starts in week 1 and usually finishes in week 35.
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Every week, each role places an order and makes deliveries. For example, the distributor places orders to the factory. The factory then places orders, which become a production order. The game has a two weeks delay, which is also called lead-time. When any party places an order in week 1, it will be delivered after two weeks, which is in week 4. The students in the four roles are not allowed to communicate to each other. They have one objective, to minimize their cost. The cost is calculated by adding inventory carrying cost and back orders (orders that cannot be fulfilled). Inventory holding cost is $ 0.5 per unit of Beer per week and the cost of not fulfilled orders is $ 1 per unit of Beer per week. All back orders must be fulfilled in the following week(s). The only decision that the student in each role makes is the order quantity. As the game does not allow the parties to communicate, the supply chain members experience a lot of issues such as being out of stock or have over-stock, which adds cost. These issues can be addressed by adopting IS because these technologies improve processes between companies and facilitate information sharing. Therefore, the Beer Game becomes a useful teaching exercise to show students how IS can be used by organizations to have more efficient and effective supply chains. 3.2. Manual Beer Game In the manual Beer Game, students use paper, pens, envelopes and cans to play the game. The table setup for students in each role is shown in Figure 1. Each week, students in each role receive incoming orders and incoming deliveries and send outgoing order and outgoing deliveries. Every week the numbers have to be filled in a work sheet to calculate the total cost the participants fill their orders in small paper sheets, put them in an envelope on the outgoing orders slot and the instructor or a teaching assistant moves each envelope to the next party. Similarly, when the students in each role receive incoming deliveries, these numbers are filled in their work sheets, outgoing deliveries are calculated and a paper slip of the quantity is put in a can and placed in the outgoing delivery slot. In addition, the students are made aware of a two weeks delay (lead-time) to receive the orders placed by them (see the two extra fields between the tables in Figures 1 and 2).

Figure 1: Manual role-play setup (Reimer, 2008)

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Figure 2: Manual role-play table setup (Reimer, 2008) 3.3 Computer Beer Game The computer beer game has been developed by Kai Reimer and can be downloaded from www.beergame.org. The software is being adopted in more than 224 institutions from 47 countries (Reimer, 2011). The game is in a form of a client-server application where the students log on to the game using their email address and password via a web browser. Once all four roles have logged on, the instructor starts the game from the server. All the orders and deliveries are electronically received and sent. As shown in Figure 3, the students do not perform any calculations; all the student do is simply decide on the order quantity with the objective of reducing their total cost.

Figure 3: Computer Beer Game (Reimer, 2011)

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3.4 Measures of Students Understanding of Supply Chain Concepts This study adopts De Freitas and Oliver (2006) framework on how to evaluate the use of roleplay games to determine how learning process takes places. The authors argue that evaluation of the learning process depends on the context of the study, the learner specification, pedagogic considerations and mode of representation (tools for use). In the context of this study, students understanding is measured by the extent to which students become familiar with the concepts of lead-time, calculations of cost and understanding of supply chains. These three measures are explained below: Lead-time: It is measured by the extent to which students are familiar with the concept of lead-time and its impact on the supply chain. Calculations: It is measured by the extent to which the student is familiar with the calculations to obtain the final cost. Overall understanding: It is measured by extent to which the students understand the concepts of the supply chains and the need to use IT to managing problems in supply chains. 4. RESEARCH METHOD This study adopts an experimental research approach because it helps the researcher to bring about a change in a situation, while not influencing the participants. The primary data collection technique used in this study was semi-structured interviews. The data was collected from students taking an E-Business course at the Information Systems Department at a University in Bahrain. These students played the Beer Game (the name was changed to Juice Game for cultural reasons as alcohol is a prohibited drink among Muslims) as part of their course project. Two classes were involved in this study, which formed two experimental groups. The two experiments were conducted in the first semester of 2011. The participants in both experiments were interviewed two times (once after playing each game). All interviews lasted for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. An interview protocol was used as a guide in all interviews. It included questions relating to topics such as students experiences using the game, understanding of concepts of supply chain and the comparison between both role-play games. The data were transcribed after the interviews and were analyzed by finding common themes through pattern matching logic (Yin 2003) using Nvivo software. Prior to conducting the experiments, participants were provided with a description of the study. Ten students participated in Experiment 1 and 11 students participated in Experiment 2. The students in both experiments were assigned into groups and each group was assigned a role (a factory, distributor, wholesaler or retailer). The first experimental group started by playing the computer beer game and then they were interviewed after the game. Then in a week time, the same group played the manual beer game and then they were interviewed for a second time. The second experimental group played the manual beer game first and then the computer beer game. This group was also interviewed after playing each game. The data was analysed by using three indicators (lead-time, calculations and overall understanding of the supply chains). For instance when a student indicated that he/she understood a concept a value yes was given, whereas if a student indicated that he/she did not understand the concept a value no was given. In this way, all three concepts were precisely measured. Rigor in the study was achieved by following the guidelines as suggested by Yin (2003). In particular, the focus was on construct validity, external validity and reliability. The construct validity was established by having participants reviewing the interview transcripts. External validity was achieved by applying replication logic. Multiple respondents were used to achieve literal replication.
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The reliability of the study was achieved by: (a) clearly conceptualizing variables: The variables were clearly conceptualized as they were defined prior to conducting the empirical study; (b) using an interview protocol: An interview protocol was developed and used in all interviews; and (c) maintaining a database: All the interview data was managed within Nvivo. 4.1 Experiment 1 In this experiment, the students first played the computer role-play game. They were explained how the game works and the steps to log on to the system. These students were interviewed after the game. Then, in a week time, the same participants played the manual role-play game and then they were again interviewed after the game. A summary of the data analysis concerning each of the variables and improvement in the level of understanding of students relating to supply chain concepts is presented in Table 1. The results indicated that in the computer role-play game only a few students (four out of 10) understood the concept of lead-time. The four participants stated that the lead-time was clear in the game and therefore the value is yes: Yes, the lead-time was obvious in the computer game; I knew it when I played the game. Participant A Yes, the truck was on the screen, we could see it. Participant J However, six participants indicated that they did not understand lead-time in the computer game and therefore have a value of no. Even though the lead-time was explained in an earlier class and shown as an animation on the screen, these participants did not understand the concept. For example the two quotes below explain students views: I understood lead-time when I played the manual game; in the computer game it was not so clear. Participant C In addition, most of the participants (eight out of 10) were not familiar with the formulas of the calculations required in the game and could not understand the cost. This is because the participants did not need to do the calculations in the computer role-play game as all they had to do is to enter the order quantity in the game and the costs were calculated automatically: I like the manual game better because we know what happened, how we calculated the cost. In the computer, we only put the numbers. In the manual, we work more. Participant D The two students that understood the calculations from the computer role-play game stated that they had practiced it before the session and had to know the calculations to minimize their cost. I understood the idea from the computer game The things were moving faster from the computer. Because you explained to us on the computer first when we put the numbers in the sheet we thought we had to enter them but there were already there on the computer but we understood them [the calculations]. Participant J

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Table 1. Summary of Experiment 1 (students were made to play the computer role-play first and then the manual role-play game) Computer role-play Manual role-play game game Participants Change in understanding Lead Lead Calculations Calculations of concepts after the time time manual role-play game A Yes No Yes Yes Improved B Yes No Yes Yes Improved C No No Yes Yes Improved D No No Yes Yes Improved E No No Yes Yes Improved F No No Yes Yes Improved G No No Yes Yes Improved H No No Yes Yes Improved I Yes Yes Yes Yes No change J Yes Yes Yes Yes No change The data indicates that students after playing the manual role-play game had a better understanding of the concepts of lead-time and got familiar with the calculations. These students explained that because there are delay cans between each group, they are able to understand the lead-time concepts. They could understand the calculations better because they were calculating the costs manually: I think the manual game helped me understand better because when we write the numbers, it is easier rather than put it in the computer we can see when they [other supply chain members] delivered and receive orders. Participant H When the students were asked if they preferred the manual role-play game, most of them recommended both games in class. They stated that in the manual game, they could understand the concepts of lead-time and calculations and supply chain concepts and then they could easily play the computer role-play game once they got familiar with these concepts. 4.1.1 Summary of Experiment 1 The data from eight participants indicates that students got a better understanding of the concepts of the supply chains after playing the manual role-play game. This finding is inconsistent with findings of some studies in the literature (for example, DeNeve and Harpener, 1997). In addition, these eight students preferred to play both games. They also suggested that the manual role-play game should be played before the computer role-play game so that students get familiar with the important concepts and thus will be able to play the computer role-play game. However, two students believed that the computer role-play game was still sufficient for understanding supply chain concepts. 4.2 Experiment 2 Similar to the previous experiment, the participants were explained the aims of the research and given a consent form. The primary purpose of this experiment was to assess (a) students understanding of supply chains when the sequence of the games is reversed, that is having the

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manual role-play game first and then the computer role-play game and (b) whether changing the sequence of the games would provide any new findings. Similar to the previous experiment, the participants were asked questions to assess their level of understanding of concepts such as lead-time, calculation of cost and supply chains problems and issues. These three were used as indicators to assess the computer and manual role-play games. The value yes indicates an improvement in these concepts, while no indicates that the student did not understand the variable (concept). A summary of the results from the 11 participants is shown in Table 2. The data indicates that all the students that were interviewed after playing the manual role-play game understood the formulas and calculations completely: Yeah, it [the calculations] was easy. No problems. Its pretty basic accounting Participant L In terms of lead-time, three out of 10 students did not realize that the manual game had a lead-time. However, the remaining seven students understood that they would receive their deliveries after two weeks of placing their orders. I was imagining I was living the real situation. I was sending an order. For example, I was ordering products when I had low inventory, so I made the order but I didnt know what Id get in two weeks and if I would need additional inventory. So I didnt know if Id have orders or not after two weeks. I felt I was not in a game but working in a real life situation. Participant K In addition, the data indicates that all students understood the concepts of supply chains from the manual role-play game: I already understood all this [the concepts] in the manual. It [the computer Beer Game] was not different from the manual game. Participant P Table 2. Summary of Experiment 2 (students were made to play the manual role-play game first and then the computer role-play game) Manual role-play Computer role-play game game Participants Change in understanding of Lead Lead Calculations Calculations concepts after playing the time time computer role-play game K Yes Yes Yes Yes No change L Yes Yes Yes Yes No change M No Yes Yes Yes No change N Yes Yes Yes Yes No change O Yes Yes Yes Yes No change P Yes Yes Yes Yes No change Q No Yes Yes Yes No change R Yes Yes Yes Yes No change S No Yes Yes Yes No change T Yes Yes Yes Yes No change U Yes Yes Yes Yes No change

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Moreover, all participants stated that they preferred to play both role-play games in the same sequence as the experiment. More specifically, the data indicates that participants thought that the manual role-play gives them a good understanding of the formulas, calculations and movement of orders and deliveries. Then, the computer game could be used for execution because it is faster and creates a better structure to the role-play process: In the manual game we were focused on the formula, on the calculations, on understanding flow of products in supply chain, we didnt focus on the order. In the electronic game, we were predicting the demand, how much to order, how much to order the inventory, we didnt focus on the calculations, and we focused on the demand and order. Participant U I think playing the manual first was helpful before playing the computer game. In the manual we will understand how to calculate, the cost better and then the computer will be faster for playing, the manual game was too slow. Participant T 4.2.1 Summary of Experiment 2 This experiment shows all students did not have a preference to any particular role-play game but preferred to play both role-play games. Students showed a better understanding of the concepts because they played the manual game first and then the computer game. The findings indicate that students regarded the manual role-play useful for practicing the formulas and understanding the concepts and strategies of the game, while the computer-role play was more enjoyable and faster. They do not need to know the calculations of the cost for each of the 35 weeks in the computer role-play game. The participants thought that a few weeks were sufficient in the manual role-play and once they got the practice and they could use the computer-role play game to expedite the process. 5. DISCUSSION This study examined the extent to which computer role-play games improved students understanding of the learning material. The objective is to assess how imported ICT-based learning solutions, such as the Beer Game, can enhance the education process in emerging countries. The results were compared between manual and computer role-play games using two groups of students from a university in Bahrain. The findings show that computer roleplay games cannot entirely replace the manual role-play games. To enhance students learning, it may be necessary to play both, with the manual role-play game played first, and then the computer role-play. More specifically, this study provides new explanations on the effectiveness of using both types of role-play games. The manual role-play game could be used at the start of the learning process as students can relate to concepts by seeing objects and doing. Then, the computer role-play game can be used for the faster execution of the game. The findings from this study contradicts some of the previous studies claims that traditional learning methods have become less useful for education in a modern society (Hmelo-Silver, 2004; Schmidt et al., 2009). Various researchers have indicated that computer role-play games in classrooms are more effective than traditional methods in enhancing learning (Aubusson et al., 1997; DeNeve and Heppner, 1997; Rendas, et al., 1999). Whereas, this study has shown that both games can be beneficial in the stages of the learning process. The manual role-play game at the start of the learning process followed by the computer-role play game.

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This study also contradicts others studies that have argued that implementation of technologies in classrooms have limited effect (Kim et al., 2002). These types of tools could improve students understanding of the learning material when integrated with traditional methods as indicated from the findings of this study. As such, this study builds on previous research by showing the importance of both games. Previous studies have mainly investigated whether ICT enabled technologies has an influence on the students learning process of the material or not (For instance, Kim et al, 2002; DeNeve and Heppner, 1997). These studies do not explain why in some situations ICT enabled learning methods have a positive impact in classrooms (for example, Aubusson et al., 1997; DeNeve and Heppner, 1997; Rendas, et al., 1999) and in other situations these methods have a limited influence (Kim et al., 2002). In this study we provide new explanations by highlighting that it may be better to include both methods to improve students learning of the material rather than choosing one or the other. Previous studies have compared the use of computer role-play games with traditional lectures or text book learning (DeNeve & Heppener, 19997; Kern, 2000; Kim et al., 2002; Liu et al., 2011). This is problematic as these are two different types of analysis, which creates many confounding variables that may affect these studies findings. By using the same unit of analysis (both types of role-play games), this limitation has been addressed in this study. 6. CONCLUSION The present work advances our current understanding on the use of ICT in educational settings. This research is among the first studies that not only compared a manual role-play game and computer role-play game to assess students understanding of the learning material but also showed the appropriateness of each method in the learning process. Most of the studies in the literature have been conducted in the context of developed countries (see for example, DeNeve and Heppner, 1997 and Aubusson et al., 1997). This is one of the few studies that have been conducted in the context of an emerging country. These countries have different social, economical and cultural settings compared to those of advanced countries. It is expected that students from advanced countries are more receptive towards ICT enabled educational tools used in classrooms. While students in Bahrain are educated and technology savvy, they have a preference towards traditional methods of education. This may explain as to why previous studies have reported that ICT enabled tools are more effective than traditional tools for the learning process and why students in this study benefit from traditional methods. These differences between people from emerging and developed countries need to be taken into consideration when interpreting the findings of this study. Furthermore, this study contributes to our understanding of ICT management in the education settings in emerging economies. Policy makers and educators usually assume that ICT enabled learning solutions developed in advanced economies are more effective tools for teaching and knowledge transfer than traditional methods of education and should replace them. These policy makers do not take into consideration their own contextual settings. These decision makers need to understand the context of their country and appropriateness of each method before implementation. As such, proper planning and assessment needs to be done by policy makers and educators to provide the best way to facilitate the learning process rather than simply replace existing methods. The participants of this study were third year university students from an emerging country. It would be interesting to compare the results with lower level students or postgraduate level students. In addition, in this study the Beer Game was used as a tool to assess the influence of computer role-play game in improving classroom learning. While the
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findings may be applicable to other role-play games in other domains, the context and variables used to measure students understanding should be taken into consideration. Moreover, the present research investigated the influence of computer role-play game with students from an emerging country. It would be valuable to replicate this study in more advanced economies. Future research should investigate other potential factors such as culture and social norms. Such studies would help better understand the differences in findings between emerging and advanced economies. 7. REFERENCES Aubusson, P., Fogwill, S., Barr, R. and Perkovic, L. (1997) What Happens when Students Do Simulation-Role-Play in Science? Research in Science Education, 27, 4, 565-579. Bresnahan, T. F., Brynjolfsson, E., and Hitt, L.M. (2002) Information Technology, Workplace Organization and the Demand for Skilled Labor: Firm Level Evidence, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 117, 1, 339-376. Cohen, S.S., DeLong, J.B. and Zysman, J. (2000) Tools for Thought: What is New and Important about the E-conomy, Berkeley Roundtable on International Economics, Berkeley CA, Working Paper 138. Daveri, F. (2000) Is Growth an Information Technology Story in Europe too? Working Paper. Universita di Parma, Parma, Italy. Dedrick, J., Gurbaxani, V. and Kraemer, K.L. (2003) Information Technology and Economic Performance: A Critical Review of the Empirical Evidence, ACM Computing Surveys, 35, 1, 1-28. De Freitas, S. and Oliver, M. (2006) How Can Exploratory Learning with Games and Simulations within the Curriculum be Most Effectively Evaluated? Computers and Education, 46, 3, 249-264. DeNeve, K.M. and Heppner, M.J. (1997) Role Play Simulations: The Assessment of an Active Learning Technique and Comparisons with Traditional Lectures, Innovative Higher Education, 21, 3, 231-246. Feinstein, A.H., Mann, S. and Corsun, D.L. (2002) Charting the Experiential Territory: Clarifying Definitions and Uses of Computer Simulation, Games, and Role Play, Journal of Management Development, 21, 10. 732-744. Goodwin, J.S. and Franklin, S.G. (1994) The Beer Distribution Game: Using Simulation to Teach Systems Thinking, Journal of Management Development, 13, 8, 7-15. Hanna, N. (1994) Exploiting Information Technology for Development: A Case Study of India. World Bank Discussion Paper 264.Washington, DC: World Bank. Hmelo-Silver, C. (2004) Problem-Based Learning: What and How Do Students Learn? Educational Psychology Review, 16, 3, 235-266. Hitt, L.M. and Brynjolfsson, E. (1996) Productivity, Business Profitability, and Consumer Surplus: Three Different Measures of Information Technology Value, MIS Quarterly, 20, 2, 121-142. Joyner, B. and Young, L. (2006) Teaching Medical Students Using Role Play: Twelve Tips for Successful Role Plays, Medical Teacher, 28, 3, 225-229. Kahn, B. (2005). Managing E-Learning Strategies: Design, Delivery, Implementation and Evaluation. Hershey, PA: Idea Group Publishing. Khan, S.H. (2012) Integration of ICT Component in Teacher Educational Institutions: An Unavoidable Step towards Transforming the Quality of Present Teacher Education System, Indian Streams Research Journal, 1, 5. http://www.isrj.net/PublishArticles/931.pdf

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