Technology is changing not only the field of real estate but also the way real estate is taught in business schools.

     At DePaul University in Chicago, Finance Professor Susanne Cannon teaches an MBA course called "Information Technology, E-commerce and Real Estate" using e-College, an Internet software package. The software allows Cannon to issue assignments and conduct online student discussions about real estate issues the weekend before each Monday night class.

     Students use the Internet to explore the web sites of firms they are studying and to review financial statements of publicly traded firms. Then they conduct online discussions of the strategic decisions facing real estate executives who regularly visit the class to speak about the impact of changing technology on their firms. The executives also view the class web site before they address the class.

     "What makes the course interesting is that we have speakers who are major players involved in re-thinking the real estate business model because of technology, and we are using technology to change the teaching and learning process as well," Cannon said. "The online threaded discussions that the students have before class are really fascinating." Cannon said the class has become so interesting that a DePaul trustee, Richard Hanson, formerly senior managing director of Mesirow Stein Real Estate, Inc. and now managing member of the recently formed Mesa Development, LLC, asked to sit in each week.

     Cannon identifies eight sectors of the real estate business model being transformed by the impact of technology: retail, office, construction and project management, venture capital, residential brokerage, mortgage lending, market analysis and appraisal, and commercial brokerage and leasing.

     Among the real estate executives who have come to address the class are John Bucksbaum, CEO, General Growth Properties; Michael Sheinkop, senior vice president, Equity Office Properties; Tom Koenig, CEO, Koenig & Strey Realty; Sean Conlon and Tim O'Neil, partners, Sussex and Reilly; Michael Hogan, director of computer services for Loebl, Schlossman, Hackl Architects; and John Doyle, principal, Woodhaven Investors.

     Upcoming speakers include representatives from several dot-com real estate firms, including Lisa Max, CEO, Redbricks.com and Russell Capper, CEO, e-realty.com, as well as Tommy FitzGibbon, senior vice president, Manufacturers Bank and Steve Bell, Managing Director, and Kevin Talbott, Midwest director of research, CB Richard Ellis.