Friday, March 1, 2002

2 Canadian Colleges to Test the Effectiveness of Wireless Learning By KAREN BIRCHARD About 300 freshmen in accounting at two of Canada's largest colleges will take part in a research program to assess whether wireless technology helps students to learn in their first year of college. The colleges also hope to find out if going wireless will help them attract future students. The students, who will be enrolled in "Introductory Accounting" at Seneca College of Applied Arts & Technology in Toronto and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton, Alberta, will use handheld pocket computers from Compaq and will gain Internet access through a wireless network operated by Bell Mobility, a division of Bell Canada. The students will be able to download course material, including their textbooks, and communicate with fellow students and their instructors. The Mobile Learning Pilot Project, announced Wednesday and set to start in September, is estimated to cost about $680,000. That figure includes the estimated value of such things as project management, subject-matter expertise, instructional design, evaluation, hardware, airtime, software development and travel costs. However, it doesn't count staff time and overhead expenses. Officials from both colleges said that they were enthusiastic about the project but that it must show whether or not wireless technology helps both students and faculty. "It's vital to determine how this benefits our students and to not merely jump on the 'wireless technology in education' bandwagon," Rick Miner, president of Seneca College, said in a prepared statement. Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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