Techization

UW-Stout’s e-Scholar program has come under fire early this summer.  An editorial in the Leader-Telegram talks about the cost in having a school-issued laptop for their four-years at UW-Stout.  It cites the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill that pay a fraction of what UW-Stout students do.  The editorial makes some good points, however it’s not a 100% accurate comparison.

UW-Stout is substantially more than UNC because of how the program is designed.  UNC is almost a more ala carte offering where students can choose from 4 different PC’s and isn’t required to be pre-loaded with all software the university has licenses for.  This is where most of the cost is incurred, software.  UW-Stout’s laptops are packed with professional, top-notch software that is often hundreds of dollars each by themselves.   Some of these packages include AutoCAD from Autodesk, Symantec Anti-Virus, Adobe Design Premium, Microsoft Office, and Rosetta Stone.  That’s not even the complete list!  The software offered from UW-Stout is quality, but it could be improved in the way they issue it to students.

UW-Stout has stated it would be more costly to split the software so certain software is installed on computers for students who will actually use it.  I have never once, in my three academic years, open up AutoCAD.  Why?  I’m not an engineer nor apparel design major and have no idea how to use it.  It may be installed on my machine, but it holds no real value to me as a student.  I could probably scrap about half of what is installed on my laptop because of two reasons; I’m not trained on its use or I have no interest/need for the piece of software.  This is one area where UW-Stout should evaluate its procedures.

Is this the most cost-effective method for students?  Or, could UW-Stout get by with less licenses and only install it only on certain laptops for particular majors.  I presume it has to do with how the contracts are structured with Vanguard Computers, the supplier for UW-Stout’s e-Scholar program. 

Students should be able to bring their own computers, right?  Students can bring them, but are still given a laptop from UW-Stout.  It does have multiple advantages over your personal machine.  Screen broke?  No problem.  Got a virus and can’t use it?  No Problem.  Battery wore out? No problem.   The support UW-Stout provides is critical to the programs success is quite good, though it could use some upgrades.  UW-Stout takes away the hassle of owning a high-end notebook computer.  Another area of concern is compatibility.  With a consistent offering across the board with standards, UW-Stout minimizing compatibility issues and other software related problems.  It’s much easier to support two or three computer models with identical setups rather than thousands of different laptops with who knows what on the machine.  Uniformity leads to sanity for the Stout IT department in this case! 

Let me be clear, UW-Stout should certainly be analyzing how to bring down costs and/or re-structure the e-Scholar program.  It does have draw backs and universities need to be fluid and responsive to our current economic crisis.  However, I can’t stress how imperative the e-Scholar program is to students.  UW-Stout is a technology epi-center in the UW-System and a good platform for other universities to observe and mold themselves after.  Technology is literally transforming our world, whether personal, business or otherwise.  Citizens who are unfamiliar or unable to use technology are already three steps behind in the workforce.  With my urging I hope UW-Stout continues its innovative focus and takes their technology view another step further. 

E-textbooks or iPad anyone?

Last year I created a internal memo at the University of Wisconsin — Stout, Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University, about e-readers and their future on college  campuses.  For those uninitiated, UW-Stout is a leader in technology with a high percentage of smart classrooms and providing high quality Macbook’s and HP notebook’s to their students.  Every student on this campus has a laptop.  I think it would be a natural progression to have UW-Stout look into providing their students with this new technology. 

When the Kindle first came out I was excited about it’s potential, but it had many limitations that would make it insufficient for an academic enviornment. It was a non-color screen, so science textbooks would be all but useless no the device.   There was no way to make notes in the margins or alter anything on the screen; us college folks love our little notes in the margins.  I knew that this technology was heading somewhere but it was still in the early stages. 

Now comes the Apple iPad. (cue cheesy music)  A beautiful color screen and plenty of computing power making this a legitimate contender in the ever expanding “how small can I get my personal computing device” race.  It works as a beautiful e-reader and solves some of the problems the Kindle had for use in academic settings.  Some schools are brave enough to jump on the bandwagon early, like Seton Hill University.

“Most of Seton Hill’s 2,145 students will have to pay up to $800 a year in additional technology fees for an expanded wireless network and support system.

And Seton Hill says students may still need to buy textbooks. “We believe the iPad will make e-textbooks more viable to assign and use,” said Kary Coleman, media relations director for the school, in an emailed statement”  (Wall Street Journal)

Some schools are early adopters of the iPad, but Kary makes a good point.  This platform as a digital textbook locker will really take off when publishers start pushing their content to online stores, and that change is coming.   Google is opening an e-book store by this summer while other digital book stores continue to expand their content offerings daily. 

Devices like the Apple iPad and others still in development will look to revolutionize the education industry.  No more heavy backpacks and notebook paper flying all over the room.  A seamless and organized experience, interacting with all your textbooks and notes in one digital environment.   It’s truly an exciting thought.

The shift is occuring, who will be those first “leaders” in this new technology and embrace “e-reader like” devices for textbooks and content creation among students?  It’s still early, but they’re coming.

Want to see the shift that is occurring in action?  Watch this…

A huge hurdle has been jumped for e-textbooks and open source instructional resources.  California held an open ‘e-textbook compeition’ for any company to submit new instructional resources for the state.  The submissions were analyzed against California’s standards for their public education system and rated for their content.

A non-profit organization named CK-12 won the competition which is a recent upstart company with an incredibly small staff.  CK-12 wen’t up against major publishers looking to land a major contract with the state of California.  Of the 16 free digital textbooks for high school math and science reviewed, ten meet at least 90 percent of California’s standards. Four meet 100 percent of standards.’ Three of those recognized as 100% aligned to California standards were from CK-12 and one from H. Jerome Keisler.

What makes this hurdle so huge is that CK-12 is not a major publisher and focuses on open source information and sources.  Their texts are combined information for multiple sources and not a short list of authors.  Similar to ‘Wikipedia’ in a textbook format.  This showcases the power of open source information and California’s commitment to e-readers to deliver this content.

E-Textbooks Offer

• Fast content turn-around.  No need for new print editions which when shipped can contain content that is up to 2 years old. Content can be edited literally overnight and kept up-to-date.
• Content can be made more interactive and media rich via hyperlinks, high-resolution color graphics and other engaging content

This is a huge win for e-textbooks and open source content for instructional material.  It is my hope that universities will begin initialising similar programs for their students with the University of Wisconsin-Stout being a prime candidate test this new technology.

You see an old high school friend while shopping for your next pair of underwear.  You stop briefly to catch-up on ‘old times’ only to find it’s almost like you never were apart.  Sherri had a baby and John just had a killer bachelor party, yadda yadda yadda.  This phenomenon is known as ‘ambient awareness’.  Platforms like Facebook and Twitter have made following your friends, families and co-workers daily lives effortless.

Many non-early adopters ask, why do I care that Matt ate toast this morning or thinks that AT&T is an epic failure as a wireless provider?  With occasional browsing the updates seem really boring, perhaps even absurd to even waste time reading.  Keep following those status updates and tweets, soon a digital picture begins to emerge in your head.  You begin to tune into the flow of your friends daily lives and know their day-to-day triumphs and tribulations.  This is known as digital intimacy.

Digital intimacy is increasing on a monthly basis with the evolution of ‘real-time’ platforms.  Thousands of users squawked when Facebook updated to their freshly designed home page with information popping up in their users feeds faster than ever before.  After a few months most adjusted to the new speed of information and the ground swell subsided.

So with this new ambient awareness of your network, you will find yourself feeling strangely close to your friends even though you rarely see them.  When you do stumble across them you pick up your conversation where it left off online.  This is not an unproven theory, I catch myself doing it all the time.  The more I scan my networks the closer I feel digitally to my friends.  But sometimes too much digital digestion can be a bit stressful.

This stress has led to many digital mavens to start adopting convergence tools like FriendFeed or simply skimming on the platforms they currently use when they have ample time.

Users who create more content are much more likely to have more digital visibility and are also more likely to have digital awareness of their network.  Content creates conversation and will foster more time spent digesting and engaging in the conversation.  This closeness drawn from conversation and interaction will foster more digital awareness of their network, especially those who engage with that users content.

That begs the question, are you in the conversation?

On the heels of the Kindle 2, Amazon announced pre-order sales on another version of their popular e-reader.  This new piece of hardware will be known as the Kindle DX.

The Kindle DX display screen is 2.5 times larger than the Kindle 2, 9.7″ diagonally to be exact.  The reason for the larger screen is to accommodate full pages of text. (10.5″ x 7″)  The Kindle DX boasts a screen resolution of 1,200 x 824 pixels which rivals some smaller laptop displays

As a current college student, I know the high costs and trouble academic textbooks can bring.  Friends of mine often have as many as eight different academic texts.  I just picked up some of my roommates textbooks here in our room, many are 800-1200 pages long and weigh anywhere from 4.2 lbs to 6.5 lbs.  Now stick three or four large textbooks plus a laptop and you have some serious weight on your back!   I’m sure many health care professionals would love to see an e-reader replace textbooks, especially if they filter to younger school children.

What is really interesting and promising for Amazon is the heightened interest from universities across the country.  Amazon already has a test pilot program setup at Arizona State, Case Western Reserve, Princeton, the University of Virginia and Pace university.  Students and faculty will be issued a new Kindle DX next fall with no increase in tuition or other fees.

The positive impact for academic institutions is clear.  Obvious benefits for the student, less costs in production and transporting of texts and a much greener impact on our environment

“Our interest in the pilot is to provide Amazon and other vendors with information on what our students and faculty need in such devices to make them successful,” said Serge Goldstein, associate CIO and director of academic services at Princeton. “The ability to deliver textbooks in a format that doesn’t require paper is probably inevitable.”

These universities are early adopters who will get to see first hand how e-readers could work in an academic environment.  I feel the Kindle DX could work quite well.  However, it is not perfect.

E-readers may not fit well with science courses like biology or chemistry.  Science texts are often filled with vivid graphics that are crucial supplements to the text.  A black and white e-reader like the Kindle DX would not do well in that situation.  We are just on the tip of the iceberg.  These e-readers will continue to get smaller, lighter and even more impressive with their capabilities.  High resolutions color display readers are able to be produced, but the cost to produce them is unrealistic to roll out in large quantities.  Costs will come down and improvements will be suggested as these pilot programs are completed around the country.

It is my belief e-readers like the Kindle DX will become standard on college campuses nationwide in the future.  It will take some time for profitable models to be developed and buy-in from universities and students alike.  However, this shift is inevitable in my strong opinion.