Rick West researched and posted the following on his blog, and I found it interesting and wanted to share it with you.
A laptop on every campus
"As college freshmen head off to campus this year, they're toting cellphones in one pocket, iPods in another. And that click-clack you hear isn't the jingle of new dormitory keys - it's their fingers pounding instant messages back and forth."In the words of Rick:
"Here's a debate for you! The Christian Science Monitor reports in an article today that about 3% of colleges are requiring their students to have a personal computer. A lot of universities are considering doing this, but they are not sure they want to. However, one professor said that they would never go back because it has helped their students so much:
'Everybody in the community talks with each other more frequently,' says David Brown, a professor at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. 'Students run into trouble, they e-mail one another, e-mail the faculty. The whole culture changes.'However, Donald Heller of Penn State takes the other side of the fence.
'There are much better ways to improve learning on campus than telling students they have to buy a laptop.'What's your take on this argument? The real issue here is should educational institutions require students to have a technology that they think will enhance learning? We require students to buy textbooks because we think it will enhance their learning. What if we did studies and found that IPods can be used for educational purposes. Should we then require everyone to have one? Some departments and classes here at BYU require students to purchase a remote-like device that helps them interact in large classes (physics 100 with Dr. Turley does this). Is this a good thing to do or not?
Taking it one step further, what about in high school? Should students ever be required to have a technology ... just like they are required to have paper, pens, etc.? Should schools provide technologies to students? If so, which ones?"
3 comments:
I like the idea of using technology to enhance learning, but...think of the cost. Most students are struggling to pay for school. A laptop computer is substaintually more expensive than a couple textbooks. Yes in the long run a laptop will be more beneficial than an American Heritage book. But personally if BYU required me to have a laptop, I wouldn't have been able to afford that expense...I still can't.
I agree about the expense issue. Most students struggle to survive as it is. On the other hand, I have often thought about how many more notes I could take during class if I had a laptop. I sure type faster than I can write!
When I graduated from high school I bought a lap top. I used some of my graduation money I had recieved as presents, and then my sisters paide of the other half as a gift. (I found it on e-bay for $700.00) I thought for sure I'd need a lap top at BYU. Well, I've only hooked it up to the internet for one semester in the last three years because none of my apartments have phone lines, everyone just uses their cell phone. I didn't want to pay for a landline just to have the internet, especially since I have access to free internet on campus. I'm not sure if I regret buying my laptop, because I've used it very often for term papers. But, I spend so much time on campus that I normally just use these computers. I never bring my laptop to school to take notes because I don't want it to get ruined, and I also just don't want to deal with carrying it. I'm sure other universities (I would assume anyway) have just as many computers for the convenience of their students like BYU. I'm not sure what if the benefits from having my laptop have been significant enough to suggest that others make the purchase.
On a side note, my boyfriend mentioned the other day that he has been thinking about getting his own lap top. One of his concerns, which I thought was interesting, is that when you have a personal laptop, no one else sees the work you are doing on it. Sometimes this can lead to a greater risk of getting into trouble. Now, not to say that this great guy would intentionally get involved with something serious like pornography, but I think he has a valid point. Sometimes it is the privacy that tempts us to cheat or plagiarize. (sp?) I wonder if enforcing each student to have their own laptop, without the protection like the computers on campus have, would make the rates of such offenses higher?
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