Engineering Laptop Programs

1. Engineering Laptop Programs Goals, Expectations, Resources, Experiences William F. Moss College of Engineering and Science Clemson University Clemson, South Carolina USA

2. Two Broad Goals • Produce a better product • Slow the growth of IT costs

3. Business and industry want employees with … • Good oral and written communication skills (Eng: 45-55 rule) • State-of-the-art technology skills • Experience working in teams • Good content knowledge

4. Laptop students have better … • Communication skills • Technology skills • Team building skills • Life-long learning skills

5. Where are the IT dollars going? • Keeping labs up-to-date • Printing costs • Storage costs • Support of multiple platforms

6. Where should the IT dollars be going? • Support staff including talented students • Wired and wireless network • Centralized support of common platforms for students and faculty • High end labs • Smart classrooms • Course management system (WebCT, Blackboard)

7. Laptop Program Rollout • Select: courses, students, faculty • Construct smart classrooms as needed • Install wireless network as needed • License a course management system • Provide laptop faculty development • Create a centralized laptop help desk and repair center

8. Experiences in the US • Build smart classrooms with network access as needed. • Early adopter faculty should offer “best fit” courses first. • Provide a faculty development opportunity. • All courses do not have to use laptops in class. • Students see advantages to having a laptop even when they have no laptop courses.

9. Engineering Laptop Programs • Clemson - http://laptop.clemson.edu • Oklahoma - http://coe.ou.edu/advising/laptop/index.htm • Vanderbilt - http://frontweb.vuse.vanderbilt.edu/vuse_web/transit/dean.asp • Tennessee - http://www.engr.utk.edu/coe/compreq.htm • Mississippi State - http://www.msoe.edu/notebook/ • RPI - http://www.rpi.edu/laptops/