Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Iowa College Goes Paperless

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the go-ahead-order-a-transcript-just-try-it dept.

As reported in this Wired article, joelav22 writes that an "Iowa college plans to go completely paperless. There are no libraries, just work stations for e-books and online information. the article supports that 'The school plans to be an entirely paper-free campus. Last year, about 75 telecommunications students participated in a pilot program to go paperless. Each student used a Compaq iPaq handheld to access e-textbooks, syllabi and class materials, and to take notes and exams.' less time spent in a library equals more time for beer and filming amateur Girls Gone Wild digital video!"

7 of 419 comments (clear)

  1. Great... by Eric_Cartman_South_P · · Score: 5, Insightful
    So when some h@x0r CompSci major takes down a box, 30,000 students can't study or do homework. Greaaaaaaaaat. And we all know how secure Campus boxen are, right?

  2. Annoying by Perianwyr+Stormcrow · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What I'd rather have, instead of a paperless campus, is one that provides good mobility between the spheres of paper information and electronic.

    Give me a Paperport scanner or something similar, and give me electronic versions of my course assignments on a website. But also give me the sheets of paper.

    The vital thing is to be able to use paper for what paper is good at, and electronic systems for their own purposes. There is no reason to throw out what is otherwise the right tool for the job.

    Removing books is an_stupid_00. That means that your ability to study is limited to the availability of computers, and the functionality of said machines. Multimonitor becomes a MUST in this case. I would not mind electronic versions to do full text searches of, but dammit I want dead tree editions- zero failure chance, save physical loss. I also do not want to be forced into a zero-ownership system for my textbooks (which seems to be the primary thrust of schemes like this.)

    --

    What we call folk wisdom is often no more than a kind of expedient stupidity.-Edward Abbey

  3. This would suck. by Skyshadow · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Given that you read something like 1/3 more slowly off a video screen opposed to a paper book, this would suck pretty big-time. Reading assignments were always bad enough; the last thing I'd want to do is spend more time than I have to reading.

    Besides, nothing (yet) can replace a book you own, a highlighter and a pen for making notes in the margin and taking the whole thing to a study lounge to get away from your roommate's beer party (the sacrifices we make for good grades).

    --
    Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
  4. This would only work by rhadamanthus · · Score: 4, Insightful
    If the textbooks you "downloaded" continued to be available after your class is over. I doubt this personally (but I don't know for sure), since e-books are fairly notorious for being DRM equipped. I use my older books all the time for my current classes in chemical engineering. I would be completely screwed and rather pissed if I opened my old thermodynamics book to see "We're sorry. The book you requested to view is no longer available since you are outside of it's registration period. You must re-register. the cost is only a modest 50.00."

    Thanks but no thanks. I would only do this if the book was mine FOREVER.

    ---rhad

    --
    Slashdot needs to interview Natalie Portman.
  5. Iowa College goes blind by nano-second · · Score: 5, Insightful

    My eyes get sore after a certain amount of time staring at a computer screen... if I had to do all my studying/reading/working on computer screens (of various sizes/shapes) I would kill my eyesight. Especially since the iPaq's are way smaller than your average text book. I think the graduating class will all have squints.

    --
    I hope you're not pretending to be evil while secretly being good. That would be dishonest.
  6. As Orwell understood it by isdnip · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Paperless good. Paperless plus good. Paper can stick around, carrying un-information. Paperless makes it easier for the Ministry of Truth to remove references to unpersons, and to change unfacts when they are no longer true.

    With new paperless media like DVD-ROM and Ebook and the DMCA, it is already a federal crime to circumvent the Ministry's control over information. Once the DVD player expires, or the rights-managed usage grant expires, then it will be a crime to circumvent protections in order to access un-information. Downloaded music from PressPlay will all die when PressPlay does. It becomes un-music! You'll have to buy the next big star they want to sell you!

    Paperless good! Long live Big Brother!

  7. E-Books are like E-Jobs by citizenc · · Score: 5, Insightful

    E-Books are like E-Jobs -- they don't feel "real" to most people.

    Case in point -- I work for GameSpy Industries, doing writing, editing, and management. However, their offices are located in Irvine, California. This is quite a daily commute from Winnipeg, MB, Canada. The solution? Telecomutting.

    However, people don't seem to quite grasp the fact that, even though I'm at home, I'm still working. My mother asks me to do housework, people say "dammit Cary, get a real job".. and I make almost 3x as much as they do at their real McJobs.

    I imagine that the e-book situation is quite similar -- because there is no tactile book to hold, it isn't "real". (I've been told that, if I had to go to an office but still telecommute, then I have a real job.