Spring Break
2003's laptop initiative still not catching on
Marcos Blanco
Issue date: 9/25/08 Section: News
The laptop initiative at SJSU, which began as the Wireless Laptop Pilot Project in 2003, has yet to draw full support from students and faculty on campus.
One concern several people have with the initiative is that certain departments are requiring students to have laptops with them as added instruction materials.
"I don't think it should be required," said Wai Ki Chan, an accounting major. "A lot of people can't afford them right now. Having more classroom computers would be fair."
Howe Wang, an industrial design major, said he believes the laptop initiative should be applicable only in certain departments.
"It should be required for classes like graphic design or computer science," he said.
Wang said that students being required to have laptops would be convenient and faster for taking notes, but that they would be distracted doing things other than work.
"They'll be stuck playing games," Wang said.
Stefan Doser, a mechanical engineering major, said that the initiative doesn't lend itself well to certain subjects.
"In any math or science class, you shouldn't really have to have a laptop," he said. "Pencil and paper work just fine."
When asked whether he would support a decision for his department to require students to have laptops, Doser said, "Absolutely not. Using a laptop isn't really efficient in the engineering department."
In addition to the problem of laptops not being applicable to specific departments, cost is another factor the faculty and students are taking into account.
Lydia Ortega, the chair of the department of economics, said the initiative hasn't evolved to the point that the benefits outweigh the cost of buying laptop and the inconvenience of carrying a laptop around.
"It has to make a substantial benefit, not a little benefit," she said. "The mandates don't always reflect the cost of the individual. I get upset when we mandate rules when it's only possible benefits and they don't incorporate cost."
Ortega said students should decide if bringing a laptop to a class will be beneficial for them.
"Some of these things can't be mandated," she said. "We let the students make the decision."
The project's goal was to have SJSU become a leader in improving teaching and learning through the utilization of technology, according to an article by Mary Fran Breiling, director of the Wireless Laptop Pilot Project, in 2004.
Ortega said she can't predict how to improve the laptop initiative so that more students and faculty are willing to welcome it, but that professors are looking for ways to effectively educate students.
One of those ways is to use computer labs and online tutorials, Ortega said.
"It's a discovery process," she said.
One concern several people have with the initiative is that certain departments are requiring students to have laptops with them as added instruction materials.
"I don't think it should be required," said Wai Ki Chan, an accounting major. "A lot of people can't afford them right now. Having more classroom computers would be fair."
Howe Wang, an industrial design major, said he believes the laptop initiative should be applicable only in certain departments.
"It should be required for classes like graphic design or computer science," he said.
Wang said that students being required to have laptops would be convenient and faster for taking notes, but that they would be distracted doing things other than work.
"They'll be stuck playing games," Wang said.
Stefan Doser, a mechanical engineering major, said that the initiative doesn't lend itself well to certain subjects.
"In any math or science class, you shouldn't really have to have a laptop," he said. "Pencil and paper work just fine."
When asked whether he would support a decision for his department to require students to have laptops, Doser said, "Absolutely not. Using a laptop isn't really efficient in the engineering department."
In addition to the problem of laptops not being applicable to specific departments, cost is another factor the faculty and students are taking into account.
Lydia Ortega, the chair of the department of economics, said the initiative hasn't evolved to the point that the benefits outweigh the cost of buying laptop and the inconvenience of carrying a laptop around.
"It has to make a substantial benefit, not a little benefit," she said. "The mandates don't always reflect the cost of the individual. I get upset when we mandate rules when it's only possible benefits and they don't incorporate cost."
Ortega said students should decide if bringing a laptop to a class will be beneficial for them.
"Some of these things can't be mandated," she said. "We let the students make the decision."
The project's goal was to have SJSU become a leader in improving teaching and learning through the utilization of technology, according to an article by Mary Fran Breiling, director of the Wireless Laptop Pilot Project, in 2004.
Ortega said she can't predict how to improve the laptop initiative so that more students and faculty are willing to welcome it, but that professors are looking for ways to effectively educate students.
One of those ways is to use computer labs and online tutorials, Ortega said.
"It's a discovery process," she said.
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