Date of Award

2023-04-01

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Engineering

Advisor(s)

Sergio S. Luna

Abstract

Digital technologies have revolutionized enterprises across our personal lives, and most major industries. The digital transformation can be considered a strategic response to digital trends (Vial, 2019), encompassing substantial changes in society and industry caused by technology development (Taj, et al., 2010). It is a complex journey that needs to be guided by clear strategy. Digital transformation is more about people, than it is about technology (Frankiewiczz, B., 2020). It requires organizational changes that are backed by leadership and driven by challenges to culture (Abbu, H., 2022). Digital transformation requires leaders to build trust (Mugge, Abbu, and Gudergan 2021; Gudergan et.al. 2021; Abbu et al. 2020). Existing research suggests that organizations need to develop a digital transformation strategy to find innovative applications of technology, manage the changes triggered by technology and coordinate the implementation of the digital transformation (Hess et al., 2016). This digital transformation is revolutionizing the way enterprises support, improve, and fulfil their processes and activities. This revolution is introducing innovative technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, analytics, and other advanced technologies to provide a fully connected smart network that can optimize workloads and improve performance. Digital transformation is affecting multiple domains such as defense, automotive, and healthcare (Björkdahl, 2020; Pereira & amp; Romero, 2017, (DOD Strategy, 2019, Zimmerman, H.D., 2021). While it is apparent that there is much to gain from this digital transformation domain or industry, there is still a lack of knowledge available to Small to Medium enterprises looking to leverage smart capabilities within their facilities including the research, resources, and blueprint required to do so. In this research, the education domain is explored to understand the benefits and challenges of adopting smart capabilities in a 3K-8th grade academic institution located in El Paso, TX. Smart classroom capabilities can be described as the integration of technology to enhance teaching, improve efficiency, and engage learners. As the world is making its way towards a rapid digital shift, it is pivotal to know how best to leverage smart classroom technology to enhance learning. With the use of systems engineering tools, methods, and processes, we aim to provide school administrators a baseline of what is needed to leverage smart capabilities in elementary school classrooms. Our case study examines systematic barriers to technology and process integration for the leveraging of smart classroom capabilities. Educators and administrators from 3K-8th grade levels in El Paso, Texas were observed in their classrooms during an 8-week period. A discipline of Systems Engineering called systems thinking was utilized, and the systems engineering lifecycle was applied to approach this case study and create an architecture for leveraging the baseline necessary to support a digital transformation within an enterprise The results from this literature review and case study implicate that a reliable internet connection is the basic requirement needed for using this technology. Moreover, our thesis also identified the important role that enterprise members and administrators play in carrying out and influencing the work. A major area of focus during this site observation was teachers’ attitudes toward technology capabilities and their guiding principles, goals, and visions for adopting smart technologies. Mission and vision communication from administrators, along with sufficient workforce training is pivotal to adopting digital transformation and leveraging the concept of smart classrooms. Our students will inhabit a digital workforce; thus, it is morally imperative that teachers adopt technology. We are responsible for shaping how our students interact in their surrounding environment and the world.

Language

en

Provenance

Recieved from ProQuest

File Size

p.

File Format

application/pdf

Rights Holder

Jazmyne V. Del Hierro

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