Massachusetts Universities To Require Laptops

karmma writes: "The Boston Globe has published this article that says that Massachusetts will become one of the first states to require the purchase and use of laptop computers. While several private universities have already adopted this practice, this program will be among the first at publicly funding such a program. Full and partial vouchers will be provided to low income students, and educational programs and infrastructure will be established." Actually, Northern Michigan University, a public university in Marquette, Mich., started doing this with laptops a couple of years back. Having spent some time there, it's pretty cool how it works -- it means a lot more integration of electronic material in the classroom, from what I saw.

Comments

What a great way for Universities to save money...

[weave]

This is a decision only a non-imformed administrative council could love. I'm sure the pitch was something along the lines of: We can stop buying computers for labs since every student will have their own computer. We won't have to buy expensive servers to store student files since they will have their own storage. We won't have to back up their data since they will be responsible for their own data.

This seems to me like a giant step backwards. The idea of physically carting around your data in a bulky laptop from dorm to class to lab is ridiculous... Data like this should be accessible from anywhere from any machine as long as the correct security credentials are supplied...

This also means that all students will have to purchase licenses for each software package they ever want to learn. What if I want to go to a lab and try my hand at AutoCAD 2000? In a typical university, just go to the CAD lab and try it out. Now you'd have to go out and buy a copy for your own laptop.

The support logistics also seem like a nightmare. For example, where will a student turn when they attempt to install a parallel-port zip drive to their laptop and it blue-screens during the next boot, making all of their data inaccessible? (We had a real problem where I work with that. For some reason, external parallel-port zip drives and NT 4 just don't get along very well... Loads of BSOD problems after a reboot after an install. We finally had to ban the things...)

I don't think I'd like this.

[Apuleius]

Recall the time limited textbook issue?

Seriously, if I were an undergrad again, (Lord have mercy), I would not like being required to obtain two grand's worth of easily stolen gear when there are other, better ways to use comptuer technology in education.

Not every topic requires computing, let alone mobile computing, shakedowns like this open the path for time limited textbooks, and desk top computers are not as easily stolen.

Blind technophilia is not leading edge.

This *IS* the first public school *system*

[EricWright]

The point is that the University of Massachusetts system is going to do this, not just one campus.

I don't know about Mass, but in NC, there is one university called The University of North Carolina (the one in Chapel Hill), several others that go by The University of North Carolina - City X (Wilmington, Charlotte, Greensboro, etc.) and others that do not bow to the wishes of UNC-CH (NCSU, ECU, etc.)

OTOH, there is a University of North Carolina system of 16 campuses, of which UNC-CH is but one campus.

There's the difference... statewide school system vs. one college.

Eric

Bad, Bad Idea

[Alex Pennace]

Things UMass Lowell needs before taking on such a lavish venture:

• Working residence hall fire alarms.
• Parking (and not just for faculty, students go here too).
• Elevators that don't trap people between floors every week.
• Working shuttle bus service. My last class on Tuesdays and Thursdays ends at 15:15 on south campus. The shuttle bus delivers me to my dorm around 15:50, covering almost two miles. (Thanks to a friend, I get a ride back to my dorm in 5-10 minutes).

UMass Lowell doesn't even run the campus network in an ethical and sane manner (pulling connections for groundless abuse complaints before conferring with the alleged abuser), I sure as hell won't trust them with any computer I use. This is all gee-whiz stuff; they hope that this laptop computer craze will mask all the other problems.

An annoying fad

[mftuchman]

&ltrant&gt
Public officials want to do anything that appears to be a magic bullet. I'd much rather subsidize teacher salaries than forced laptop purchases. Sounds like some nice deals were made under the table with some laptop manufacturers, who will now make out big time.
&lt/rant&gt
Not to mention a certain company in Redmond. After all, teachers will no doubt insist that everybody have the same software. Will that software be Mathematica or Excel?

Something is rotten in the state of Massachusetts.

Actually, I probably shouldn't have said 'fad' since it is unlikely this regrettable trend will abate soon. Dell Stock (recalls notwithstanding) anybody?
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Seems a little ridiculous

[OlympicSponsor]

What are they going to use the laptop FOR?

If the answer is things like "Internet access" or "word processing" or "programming homework" they could just as well (and more cheaply) use desktops. The only conceivable reason to use dlaptops is so they can lug them to classes--but why would you need (or even want) a laptop in class? Imagine the shuffling around as everyone tries to find a (working) power/network outlet. The beeping and "you've got mail!" sounds around the room. The time it takes to do a shutdown when the class is over. The compatibility problems (student/student, student/teacher, student/administration, student/self).

If they want to be "interactive" why even attend classes? Just do video conferencing right to the dorms on desktops. Attendence would skyrocket.
--
An abstained vote is a vote for Bush and Gore.

Re:Seems a little ridiculous

[plastickiwi]

Ever see the Dilbert strips in which he telecommutes? He ends up in his underwear, filthy and unshaven, holding a little Dilbert hand puppet up to his QuickCam to fool his boss into thinking he's still maintaining a professional demeanor.

Given that half my students barely manage to get dressed before coming to class (if they make it at all), I have dim hopes of anything productive getting done via video conferencing.

It *would* be funny in small group discussion courses to see who'd come up with the best conference 'bot. Some bright kid doubtless would edit together some Quicktime movies of himself nodding, jotting notes, etc., with the occasional meaningless comment: "I agree. Yes. That's a good point."

Heeeeeeey, now. That gives *me* an idea! Now, where's that copy of Premiere?

This might not be a good thing

[wowbagger]

This might not be a good thing, IFF the students stop thinking and just become LIDs (Living Input Devices).

A case study: when I was in undergraduate engineering school (1983-1987), many if not most of the students had HP-CV calculators with the engineering formula add-on pack. I had a TI-35. During one test in Circuits II, I dropped my calculator, and the keyboard came apart, scattering the keys over the floor. I re-assembled my calculator, and still managed to complete the test before anybody else in the class (and get one of the highest scores on the test.)

Why was I able to complete the test? Because I had the good fortune to have had a high school teacher who beat it into my brain to solve the equations first, then crunch the numbers. Most of my classmates just started plugging the numbers into the equations, then taking the resulting numbers and plugging them into the next set of equations, et cetera.

By actually doing the algebra, I was able to reduce out all the pi's, root-2's, and so forth, and come up with simple equations that were far more accurate than the results of the other students. And since I had to type far fewer numbers into my calculator, I was far faster than they were. Finally, since I actually saw what happened in the circuit ("Ah! so that resistor doesn't effect the output voltage, because I just cancelled it out of the equation!"), I had a deeper understanding of the theory.

My point is, that while a computer is a great tool for many things (I shan't tell you about taking my Atari 800 and monitor into my Linear algebra class to run my Gaussian Elimination program on the final....) it must not become a substitute for thinking. I fear that the students in this school won't learn to do algebra (rather they will just use Mathcad student's edition), won't learn to spel korrecktly, and not will grammer learn ("It looks like you are writing a term paper. Would you like to cut and paste some text from Encarta?").

Random thoughts or how this could backfire

[funkman]

Spencer, the plan's chief architect, said the proposal grew out of concerns that too few graduates of state colleges have the technological skills to fill tens of thousands of business and high-tech job openings in Massachusetts.

And because I can use a calculator means I am good at math.

This program has merit but this is a lot of money on something that could backfire. Here are some ways:

• Teachers can't ramp up to the tech fast enough or they ramp up emphasizing too much on the technology and not on learning the subject matter.
• The laptops can be underpowered and be obsolete by their 2nd year of school.
• No one can support that volume of laptops so a significant percentage of students own an expensive paperweight.
• Grand theft.