Ars Technica reports, "Only four freshmen showed up at the University of Virginia in 2007 without a computer of their own, and the school has decided that it's no longer worth the expense of running campus computer labs."
That's a surprise. Who would have thought only 4 out of over 3,100 students would show up without a computer? And on the surface, this definitely sounds like a great cost cutting measure.
Nevertheless, if students are still using the labs with that kind of laptop proliferation--and assuming it is more than just for printing--then perhaps there is still a need? For instance, I've seen many students with laptop problems (I'm always surprised, too, at how abused some of their machines seem to be). Batteries often die during the day. Labs will continue to be a valuable resource when their personal machines don't work.
And if the lab equipment is removed, I hope that the lab space is reserved for student laptop use. One of the biggest complaints my students have at GVSU is that it is hard to find a place to work with their laptops. Technology funding will also be necessary to provide more AC outlets for students to charge their machines when studying and during class.
That's definitely not the
That's definitely not the case here at SCSU. Computer labs always flooded with long queues to get in.
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Check out Barton's gaming blog at Armchair Arcade.
UVa is a fairly traditional institution
As someone who lives "next door" to UVa (in the same town), I know that "The University", as UVa calls itself, prides itself on being sort of "traditional" when it comes to curricula and the programs they offer. For example, to the best of my knowledge, it does not have the kind of programs (say in web or graphic design) which would require labs with a common set of applications on which students would complete class projects. So, the university is probably thinking that most, if not all of their students, use computers primarily to check e-mail, surf the web, and so on.
I am not sure, but they probably will let departments with computer-intensive programs of study (engineering, science, etc.) keep their own labs which will probably be funded from the budgets of those departments.
To me, the biggest danger here is the potential re-creation of the good old "digital divide" between the "haves" and the "have nots." UVa is one of the national leaders in providing free need-based financial aid to deserving students. Question is: is the price of a new laptop included in that aid?
Laptop Areas
The former labs, according to the full article, are being converted to "laptop spaces" with tables for groups, some single-person areas, and printing services. It was also indicated that some spaces will have support personnel.
I've noticed an explosion of netbooks in my classes. One student told me she found an Asus system at Costco for $225. Nice little system, too. That makes it hard to complain about prices when books for my course cost more. (Well, that says a lot about book prices.)
Funny thing I've noticed is
Funny thing I've noticed is that while many teachers seem okay with students working their laptops during class, they instantly reject to "texting" on cell phones. I think they should reconsider a blanket policy, because phones like my Blackberry Curve have lots of useful tools for taking notes (including voice records, schedulers, word processors, etc.)
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Check out Barton's gaming blog at Armchair Arcade.
Laptop Labs?
Yes it is about that time when the world starts to change and everyone starts freaking out. Well with the given economic crisis eliminating a computer lab or two on campus wouldn't be such a bad thing. Computers wouldn't have to be running all day (12+ hours)and the energy savings might not be through the roof, but there would be a slight dent. They could easily convert the existing computer labs into a laptop lab, a place where students could easily plug in. This might push students who own a laptop to actually bring it to school and use it. I find myself searching for a place to plug my laptop in, so I don't bring it to school. Yes this raises questions, who is called when the student with the laptop has a problem at school, IT or Geek Squad? The chances of this happening soon are slim, but it is inevitable. Everyone is looking to save a buck or two.
Seems mostly to reduce software costs
The UVa IT site says, "As we are able to decouple access to specialized software from the physical computing lab spaces, ITC is reevaluating the viability of maintaining the present function of the ITC-provisioned public labs. In researching this, we’ve carefully examined usage statistics, which reveal that almost all of the software used in the ITC-provisioned public computing labs is already on the students’ computers."
This looks mainly like a move to reduce University licensing fees for software.
The IT site goes on:
"Lab software usage statistics from 2008 reveal that out of a total of 651,900 hours spent using software in the ITC-provisioned public computing labs, 95% of the time (over 619,500 hours), students were running commodity or free programs such as Firefox, Internet Explorer, Adobe Acrobat Reader, or Microsoft Office. All of these software programs come pre-loaded on student laptops or are available at low or no cost to UVa students.
"In contrast, just 5% of the time spent running software in ITC-provisioned public labs was devoted to specialized packages such as MatLab, Eclipse, Mathcad, or SPSS."
http://itc.virginia.edu/org/reports/labstransition.html
UVa has been at the forefront of digital initiatives in the Humanities, so closing the labs hardly seems a result of their being "traditional" or deciding to cast out their students to the analog wilds.
Check out:
http://www.iath.virginia.edu/
http://www.romereborn.virginia.edu/
http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/index.php?page=VCDH