Teaching with this book

Question

I'd like to learn if others are out there that are teaching with this book this semester and how you plan to use it.  I'd like to 'compare notes' and perhaps steal some good ideas. 
I'm teaching with this book this semester.  The class is mainly undergraduate students that would have gone through a class where I used the other Magal and Word book Essentials of Business Processes and Information Systems.  In that class the students would have also used ERPSim.  There are also a few graduate students in the class and they would have a similar background in regards to SAP ERP.
I'm not using the Global Bike exercises as, at least my thinking is, the students have seen those types of transactions already.  Instead I've adapted the BPI-1 and BPI-2 materials so that the students will be doing configuration exercises.  (I could see in the future having the students do Global Bike configuration in this class.)
In light of the students' background I plan to fly through chapter 1 and part of chapter 2 before we 'dig in' to the new content.  Finding the right level on which to cover things is a challenge that I see.  (I try to spend class time amplifying or expanding on book content and so there is no shortage of material that could go there.  I hope to draw on background related to TERP-10 instruction as a guide here.) 
I'd love to learn what others are doing, how you're proceeding through the material, what you're doing for labs, etc.

Answer 1

Jim,
Most people will use some type of SAP hands-on exercises with the text.  You have two options.  One is the set of (very good) exercises available from the UA protal.  These were developed by Stefan Weidner (and a team of people whose names I don't have).  The other is the set of exercises available from Wiley that we (authors) developed.  Either will work well with the text.  Stefan and I (and Jeff) developed the data for the new GBI 2.0 (with lots of help from our interns), so, while two sets have a few pedagogical differences (screenshots, questions, etc.), they essentially follow the same steps.   One other key difference is that once the Wiley exercises are available on WileyPlUS for the first edition (the current one is a preliminary edition), there will be mechanisms for automatic assignment submission, and, in some cases, automatic grading of student work.
Whereas most faculty will choose to use one or the other sets of exercises, a few (like Tony) will use their own due to the unique nature of their class.  For example, Tony's exercises are focused on configuration. The UA and Wiley exercises are focused on process execution.
With regard to the demos.  They are intended to be a substitute for demonstrating concepts and techniques with a live system.  They are interactive pdfs which allow faculty to explain things without using a live system.  The advantages are:  you don't have to depend on a live system being available, and (2) students can replay the demo on their own - this option is not available with live demos.  The disadvantage is that you cannot show something that is not in the recorded demo.
The Wiley exercises and demos are available from your Wiley rep for the preliminary version of the text.  In the first edition (expected March 2011) they will be available from WileyPLUS.  I have asked our editor to ensure that someone from Wiley is in touch with you to gain access to these materials.
Thanks for using the book.  We welcome feedback from teachers and students.