Emergence of Laptops in the Classroom
Universities all over the country have been trying to integrate laptop technology since as early as 1993. A few examples here are: Clemson University, The University of Minnesota, Crookston, and U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
Clemson University began a pilot laptop program for 100 freshmen in the Fall 1998 semester. [18] In Fall 2002, over 2300 freshman and sophomores are in courses requiring laptop computers; the number of students with laptops is expected to double over the next two years. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill —supports a laptop requirement that will reach 15,000 undergraduates by fall 2003.“ UNC has formed an alliance with Cisco Systems for wireless laptop environment. [3] In 1999, the College of Engineering at Mississippi State University mandated laptop computers so that, in class, computer science students could step through animations of programming constructs, take notes, and run instructor‘s examples for experimentation. Online quizzes are used with feedback provided within 24-hours. [8]
Some of these universities also know there has been a paradigm shift. Learning is becoming more interactive, the internet has become a rich source of information and simulations to help enhance teaching. Professors and teachers realize that the resources to enhance a student’s ability to learn have increased, and technology plays a huge role. Integrating it into their teaching styles is almost necessary.
The University of Minnesota, Crookston (UMC) solution was to provide faculty and students with mobile notebook computers beginning in the Fall of 1993.
From: Laptops in the Classroom article by Andrea Campbell (Association of Computing Machinery)
Laptops do provide a lot of advantages in the classroom, but the technology to actually make it useful is not cheap.
U.S. Military Academy (USMA) at West Point has purchased more than $3 million in Dell technology to power two programs for the 2002-2003 academic year.
+ the 930,000 dollars to set-up wireless all over campus
