Personal computers are rapidly becoming as ubiquitous as television and microwave ovens. A significant trend in the information industry is the movement away from desktop models toward truly mobile computing. Laptop computing continues to be one of the fastest growing segments of the information industry. In spite of this trend, laptop computers are rarely seen on the campus of SUU and very few faculty members have access to one.
There are three major goals of the proposed project. The first goal is to demonstrate to students and faculty the capabilities of mobile computing. The second goal is to examine different software to determine their stability in a mobile environment. And the third goal is to provide a prototype for the eventual use of the campus computing network by students and faculty who possess laptop computers.
Students at SUU are exposed to desktop personal computers in class room settings and in computing labs but they rarely see the vision of an information society where individuals take computing capabilities with them. My goal is to demonstrate the capabilities of the laptop in class on a nearly daily basis. Students would be able to see the advantages of having constant access to programs and personal data files. Having a laptop would make it possible to not only perform and explain software functions for class discussion but to provide instant response to questions about test scores and completed assignments.
Software application packages are not perfect. Many different environmental variables an impact the performance of the programs. The proposed project would allow for the use of several different packages over the period of a year to see which are better suiting to a mobile environment. Currently SUU supports both Novell's Perfect Office and Microsoft's Office program suites. I teach classes using both packages. I have noticed differences in a standard lab setting and would like the opportunity to explore differences that might become apparent when the softwares are run on a laptop computer.
SUU is faced with problem of providing adequate computing facilities for all students. As the student population grows, our labs will become more crowded with students. As the student population grows, our labs will become more crowded and students will find it increasingly difficult to complete assignments. This problem is being experienced at other universities and colleges. Several solutions have been proposed. One of those solutions is to require all students to have a laptop computer. While I do not feel this is currently necessary at SUU to make that requirement of our students, I think that if a student does happen to have a laptop that maybe some pressure could be taken off the labs if network access were not only possible but encouraged. This project would examine the ease (or perhaps the difficulties) of accessing the campus network by using a laptop rather than an existing workstation. It will provide valuable experience and insight when students who own laptops start to connect to the network.
The dissemination of the results will be in the daily demonstrations to students and faculty. Additionally, I will furnish the Center for Faculty Excellence a written report detailing my findings regarding software and problems encountered when attaching to the network.
Send comments and suggestions to William O'Neill,
oneill@suu.edu