Ubiquitous Laptop Computing: Lessons Learned by Early Adopters

Educause, Indianapolis, October 29, 2001

 

Larry Bryant, Director, Academic Computing, USAFA, Larry.Bryant@usafa.af.mil

       

  1. +Look for the best value by a fixing a ceiling price for vendor bidding
  2. +Common platforms for all students and faculty offer many advantages
  3. +Disk imaging is the way to go.
  4. -Be prepared for students to try anything on your network
  5. -Maintenance of the student computers can either “make or break” your plan.
  6. -Avoid the temptation to jump on popular bandwagons

 

 

John Oberlin, Associate Vice Chancellor and IT Executive Director, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill  john_oberlin@unc.edu

 

  1. +It’s nothing new, it’s just a commitment to do things well.
  2. +The most important implementation committee is the communication committee
  3. +Developing the support infrastructure is more difficult than the technical.
  4. –Things that were previously thought to be unmanageable become possible.
  5. –It doesn’t integrate technology into the curriculum, it only makes it possible.
  6. –It doesn’t solve everything, but it does everything better.

 

 

Jennifer Bolt, Director, AITT, Acadia Institute for Teaching and Technology jennifer.bolt@acadiau.ca

 

  1. +The real advantages of mobile computing are the empowerment and increased confidence of the students.
  2. +The opportunities to enhance the learning environment through mobility computing are far-reaching and go beyond improving classroom academics.
  3. +A tolerance for failure and an environment that values innovation are necessary.
  4. –We must make a conscious effort to “stick to our knitting.”
  5. –Early emphasis upon implementation resulted in a loss of opportunity to do baseline evaluation.
  6. - Expectations must be managed.

 

 

William Peterson, Professor of Mathematics, University of Minnesota-Crookston

bpeterso@mail.crk.umn.edu

 

  1. +Development of effective academic uses is essential.
  2. +It’s not about you, it’s all about the student.
  3. +Instructional support for development is critical.
  4. –Set the technology fee high enough to support the program
  5. –The infrastructure to support the laptop computers is essential.
  6. –Reliability is a key factor.

 

 

Jan Biros, Associate VP, Information Resources and Technology, Drexel University biros@drexel.edu

 

  1. +Put as many services as possible on the website
  2. +Build a cadre of students who continue top work over time and can be relied upon to do higher levels of support.
  3. +Promote and facilitate greater communication on campus related to technology issues, changes, policies, and such.
  4. -Provide ongoing training for professional staff, both internal and external.
  5. –Regardless of how long faculty have been involved in integrating technology into their courses, they still require extensive support.
  6. -Organize support staff by skills and specialties.

 

 

Steve Landry, CIO, Seton Hall University  landryst@shu.edu

 

 

David G. Brown, VP and Dean of ICCEL, Wake Forest University   brown@wfu.edu

 

  1. +Our most effective courses are hybrid, about 80% face-to-face and 20% virtual.
  2. +The greatest gains from computers come from increased communication between classes, not during class
  3. +Decentralize services to the local level as much as possible.
  4. –Use a commercial course management system
  5. –Professional project management is essential, especially during start up.
  6. –A pilot year is essential.

 

Elaborations of these points are available at http://www.wfu.edu/~brown/educause/educauseind.htm

 

[Only the items highlighted will be discussed during the formal presentations.   Session participants are encouraged to include the other items in these lists in their questions and comments.]