October 8, 2007
Student Computer Labs Still in Demand
With nearly 80 percent of college students owning laptops, it’s easy to assume that student computer labs, those large, colorless rooms filled with rows of desktops, are no longer needed. No so, according to a small survey conducted by Jim Bostick, a technology-services administrator at Virginia Commonwealth University.
He asked colleges if they were seeing a decline in demand for the labs. Out of 11 colleges that responded, eight said they saw no change or an increase in demand. College officials said students found computer labs attractive out of concern that their laptops might be stolen; because they needed the software available on the college-owned computers; because they didn’t want to cart heavy laptops around; and because they needed to use the labs’ printers.
Even so, one of the eight institutions, the University of Virginia, said it was considering replacing its computer labs with laptop docking stations throughout the campus.
An article in the current issue of Educause Review argues against the elimination of computer labs. Their role is evolving, says the magazine, from a “room with technology to a multifaceted space utilized for collaboration, socialization, and computational research.” —Andrea L. Foster
Posted on Monday October 8, 2007 | Permalink |Comments
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Labs are certainly needed at my 4-year teaching university, where many of our first-generation college students live at the poverty level. When I moved to one of the poorest states in the nation, I had no idea that some of my students would never have learned to use a word processing program in their high schools. UVA may have wealthy students who can afford laptops, but the majority of my students can’t.
— SC Oct 9, 09:21 AM #
We have seen an increase in the use of our Allied Health/Nursing computer labs over the past couple of years. Most of our students don’t have laptops. They also use the labs for studying in groups while having access to their courses on WebCT Vista. In addition, our computers have software that they can’t afford to buy for their home computers.
— Kathleen Murphy Oct 9, 09:46 AM #
I have seen an increase in my Ohio University public lab because my lab not only offers access, but the one-on-one technical support that is often needed when incorporating technology into learning.
http://www.ohio.edu/aac/lab
— D.Lee Beard Oct 9, 10:14 AM #
Puhlease. That “nearly 80 percent of college students owning laptops” must be an urban legend.
I work and teach in a large metropolitan community college district and I attend a large public university’s graduate school. Neither I nor my colleagues in many other colleges and universities have seen that many students toting around laptops. In fact, many students claim to not have access to even a desk top at home.
I’d like to know from where that 80% figure comes.
— darrell in dallas Oct 9, 10:33 AM #
80 percent figure based on ECAR study of undergraduates and information technology.
http://connect.educause.edu/library/abstract/TheECARStudyofUnderg/45075
— Wired Campus Oct 9, 10:39 AM #
The 80% number is pretty accurate. The more interesting question is why aren’t those students bringing laptops to campus (which they aren’t). Recent studies indicate that the cost and weight of a laptop don’t make up for the value of bringing it to class every day. Plus there’s all these computers on campus already . . .
— Chris the Lab Guy Oct 9, 02:23 PM #
I followed the link to the study by ECAR, and found the following information: the quantitative data (80% figure) comes from a WEB-BASED survey of 26,022 students at 99 four year institutions and 1824 students at four 2 year institutions. Two problems with representativeness of this sample come immediately to mind. First, according to Dr. Kay McClenney, CCSSE director.“With around 46 percent of all U.S. undergraduate college students attending community collegesDr. Kay McClenney, CCSSE director.“46 percent of all U.S. undergraduate college students” attend community colleges, so this study vastly oversamples four year colleges. Secondly, to take a Web-based survey requires a student to be technically savvy, which means that students who don’t have computer skills and computer access aren’t participating in the study.
— Sue Oct 9, 03:54 PM #
Excellent point, Sue. All this figure tells us is that 80% of students who understand and often access the Internet, own laptops. At the four-year university where I work, I encounter students (especially first-generation college attendees) who are only slightly familiar with opening a web browser and typing in a URL when they start school; suffice to say most of them do not have access to a personal computer outside of school. It seems pretty clear that students of this sort were grossly incapable of being fairly represented in this web-based ECAR survey.
I support the concept of a campus converting SOME portion of computer lab facilities to laptop docking stations, as this would be convenient for students who do bring their personal notebook computers to campus and prefer to work with their own, familiar computing environment. However, any attempt to entirely eliminate computer labs at the present time would place low-income students at a severe disadvantage, unless the campus in question wishes to transform all of their desktop inventory into laptop inventory and then manage the increased workload of laptop checkout/checkin. In addition to labor, such a transition would also have to be considered with respect to the facts that (1) it is generally more difficult to perform hardware upgrades in a laptop than in a desktop, and (2) laptops are generally easier to break than desktops.
— Erin Oct 10, 04:31 PM #
AND that IT folks need to worry about the security issues that arise when they allow “foreign” computers to attach to their networks. There are ways to handle this, of course, but they add to cost and trouble.
— Vickie Hess Oct 13, 11:34 AM #