Integrating Service-Oriented Paradigm Into Introductory IS Courses

Web services and SOA (Service-Oriented Architecture) are two buzzwords that have received tremendous amount of attention in the software industry in recent years. While these technologies have been incorporated in many industries in the IT market place, they are only beginning to appear in the academia, primarily in upper division and graduate curricula. In this paper, the belief that Web services and SOA technologies can and should be introduced early in an IS curriculum is shared. Several scenarios that Web services / SOA can be integrated into introductory IS courses to make them more interesting and more importantly, make the students better prepared for upper division classes and for the industry upon graduation are presented. These scenarios can be incorporated without compromising the core materials presently covered in many IS curricula.