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Written by: Barbara Lauren
Published: 01/11/2005 Framingham State (MA) College Requires All Incoming Students to Own Portable Computers
Will laptops help students learn? With seven of its public colleges slated to mandate laptops within the next two years, Massachusetts is at the forefront of the movement to bring computers into the college classroom, according to the Boston Globe.
Only 3% cent of US colleges, predominantly private institutions, require students to own computers, according to the Globe. But two years ago, Framingham State became the first public college in New England to require incoming students to own portable computers. Now, about 80% of the courses at the college use wireless laptops to connect to the Internet and conduct courses online.
The state Board of Higher Education backs the state’s laptop initiative but allows individual campuses to decide whether to adopt it, according to the Globe. Bridgewater State College and Worcester State College started the requirement this past fall. Salem State and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts will join them in instituting the requirement in the fall of 2005, and Westfield State and Fitchburg State will follow in the fall of 2006.
Massachusetts community colleges and the five campuses of the University of Massachusetts system have no current laptop requirement.
Students who buy laptops through their college receive a steep discount, and schools factor the cost into financial aid packages, according to the Globe.
Advantages of access to the Net include faculty ability to incorporate real-world applications of material studied. For example, one mathematician (at Bentley College, which has required students to own personal computers since 1985) teaches students about radioactive decay by visiting a website devoted to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. “Today’s students want to see the applications,” said David Carhart, as quoted in the Globe. “Let the software do the grunt work. We want to go to the real world.”
The disadvantage is that students can surf the Web for unrelated material during a class. When students spend too much time staring at their screens, one Framingham State faculty member instructs students to put “tops down” and raise their heads.
It is unquestionable that more and more classrooms will be accommodating laptops in the future.
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