2020 EDSIG Proceedings: Presentation/Discussion

Teaching the Big Data Technologies Course

Arben Asllani
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

The majority of business organizations have established Big Data initiatives for gathering business intelligence from large datasets, different data types, and fast-moving data streams. Meanwhile, there is a shortage of data scientists and experts with Big Data skills. Universities and colleges have created Big Data courses, certifications, or Master's programs to close the gap. A recent study indicates that about 60% of recent articles in the Chronicle of Higher Education contain the phrase "Big Data." The goal is to speed up the educational process and send Big Data professionals into the workforce as soon as possible. One way to achieve this goal is to introduce Big Data Analytics to nontechnical managers, business students, and other professionals. The workshop covers several approaches for teaching Big Data technologies to students with little or no prior programming experience. Such methods include the conceptual and technical discussion of Big Data topics, explaining by intuition and by example, using hands-on tutorials and exercises, pseudo-coding, and providing students with the flexibility to use a programming language of their choice. The workshop also discusses the advantages of using cloud computing as a platform for Big Data technologies. It also demonstrates how the instructors can use Amazon Web Services (AWS) to set free instructor and student accounts to bring the latest Big Data technologies into their classrooms

Targeted Attendees
Everyone

Presented and underwritten by Prospect Press