RIP the Campus Computer Lab, 1960-2009 571
theodp writes "When every student has a laptop, why run computer labs? That's a question schools have been asking themselves as computer ownership rates among incoming freshmen routinely top 90%. After only four freshmen showed up at the University of Virginia in 2007 without a computer of their own, the school decided that it's no longer worth the expense of running campus computer labs. Student computer labs have been a staple of campus life since the '60s. So what are the benefits that will be missed as other schools follow UVa's lead?" The university's report notes understanding that "that students need collaborative space where they can bring their laptops and mobile devices to conduct group work, especially as the curriculum becomes increasingly team- and project-based." One of the spaces formerly occupied by computer labs "has been transformed into a technology-rich collaboration area."
Still Important (Score:5, Informative)
Mind you, it's not like I don't have a computer on campus, but I still find myself using computer labs very frequently. And I know other people do too, the labs are almost always full when I'm in them. If labs die in 2009, it's not students' laptops that did it.
Re:Printing (Score:2, Informative)
I lack a printer, and thus I rely on the University's printing capabilities. I'm sure I'm not the only one; many students appear to have their own computers, but seem to rely on the University for printing off papers or projects.
And it would be that difficult to have printer labs or networked printers? My university is beginning to phase out computer labs but maintain printing facilities. Aside from which, just bring a printer to school...
Computer Labs are still useful (Score:5, Informative)
When I ran one, it was a lab of Linux machines running Matlab and a bunch of other software that most student machines wouldn't have. The computer lab was extremely useful for the students. I expect that you'll continue to see labs being used for anything that isn't common on a student's computer. (Video editing, 3D animation, Matlab, anything with specialty software), or for computer skills courses. Teaching excel is a lot easier when everybody is looking at the same version.
Sure, if it's just being used for web browsing and checking email, a computer lab may be much less useful now than it was ten years ago. Still, I think the social aspect of a computer lab shouldn't be overlooked. I expect that you'll soon see a movement of "micro computer labs" the size of a conference room with something like 3-6 computers, a conference table, and a white board, maybe a projector. Extremely useful for group projects, and things like that, but also useful by a group of completely random individuals as a small computer lab.
Yawn (Score:3, Informative)
A PHB fills a room with couches and cheap avant-guard office furniture, and it's the end of computer labs? Computer labs will stay with us, for the simple reasons that there will aways be students unable to afford laptops, and computers are required to complete coursework these days. Not to mention the convenience being able to check email or print stuff without having to lug around a laptop all the time.
Re:Still Important (Score:5, Informative)
I don't want to have to carry my laptop around all the time
I want to be able to work in a room full of other engineers whom I can talk to
I want to be able to use a computer when mine isn't working
I use linux... what am I going to do when some teacher makes me use windows, if I can't use a computer lab?
If it's to save money... maybe they should try not leaving all several hundred of our puplic computers on all night, and for the whole summer and winter vacations!
Re:They're still useful, but they should change (Score:2, Informative)
Most of the large computer labs at my university now have at least a few drop-in stations, some with large plasma screens to facilitate group work (or play).
Re:Computer labs aren't only computer rooms... (Score:1, Informative)
I used to work at a university and had some responsibility for the computer labs. There is a large difference between the hundreds and even thousands of general purpose computer labs for word processing, internet access, email, etc and the labs for computer science, physics, etc.
I doubt anyone is talking about removing access for clusters, databases, etc needed for Comp Sci work - at my university these were very different resources. Student's access to high performance clusters were growing exponentially when I left even as we bought less and less desktop computers.
Re:Still Important (Score:2, Informative)
True, there are some expensive apps which you can only use for free on a lab computer. However, at least here at UVA, most any program you are required to install for a class is available for free or at a highly discounted price from the bookstore(they even provide office for $10).
Re:As an instructor, software uniformity is crucia (Score:3, Informative)
1) When the software is on the lab computers, uniformity of environment and correctness of the install are something I can count on. Since I always test my assignments on lab machines before I give 'em out, I know there's no problem when I walk into class, because if something didn't work I already had words with the lab staff and got it fixed.
2) If something doesn't work in the lab, it's the lab staff's full time job to make it right. I'm there to teach the students the course content, not as their first line of defense in software support. If something doesn't work on a student's machine, one or more of the student, the class, or me gets hosed and there's very little I can do ahead of time to avoid the issue. If I try to fix it right there in the lab, I open a can of worms. If I change anything in their setup I may be hosing some other piece of software they count on. Meanwhile the rest of the class are twiddling their collective thumbs. If I don't try to fix it, that student gets left in the dust and will almost certainly require one-on-one tutoring later to catch up. On top of that, I'm perceived as unhelpful and unknowledgeable and the student evaluations ream me.
I'll take the campus labs over personally owned student machines, thank you.
Re:Computer Labs are still useful (Score:2, Informative)
It seems to me that if you are a college administrator, you should probably spend a day in any computer lab you are investing resources in.
Computer lab usage peaks *after* the administrators go home for the day.... or at least it did when I was an undergrad.
Re:Printing (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Spoken like someone who didn't pay for his own (Score:3, Informative)
One exception to my "Don't Work in College."
DO WORK IN COLLEGE if it's in your field. If you can get a job in college doing real work then definitely do it. But don't do it for the money. Do it for the experience.
So let me refine my old statement. DON'T WORK RETAIL/FAST FOOD IN COLLEGE.
Re:Still Important (Score:3, Informative)
Jeol's Delta NMR software
Spartan Modeling program
SciFinder Scholar
Graphical Analysis
SPSS
ChemDraw
And that is nowhere near an exhaustive list. Yes, some of those do have free or common (MS Excel) alternatives. But when you have 15 years of group research data that you are using, it's not an alternative.
And we can't SSH in - the most access they give us is VPN.
If labs die at my university, it will be because our IT department is a joke - the boxes suck so much that no one can stand to use them. When it takes 90 seconds to open Firefox, it's time to reimage them. Except then they sit for another semester. . .
Re:Printing (Score:3, Informative)
According to who? If these are kids living on campus then why not have a personal laser printer in their dorm room? Amazon has several [amazon.com] laser [amazon.com] printers [amazon.com] under $100 each. Toner refills are about $5 [ebay.com] to $10 [ebay.com] each. I own two of these under $100 laser printers, a samsung and a lexmark, and they've worked great for the past several years. Sure if you're printing 100,000+ pages a robust $1,000 office laser printer might be cheaper in the long run, but for the average student printing off a couple hundred pages a month a $100 laser printer is plenty.
I haven't been on campus in awhile, is everyone dragging laptops everywhere now? Seems to me it might have been easier ten years ago since every 100 feet there was another computer lab you could run in and check your mail within a minute. If they close the labs you'll have to whip out your laptop, wait a few minutes for it to boot, find a connection, and finally get your mail.
I can understand campuses closing labs if they saw a large drop in usage in recent years, but I can't imagine college without a computer lab. Most of the time I was in college was spent in the 24/7 computer labs. Many times I'd be working on a project the last minute and a classmate would walk-in and we could compare notes. Very useful indeed. I guess now they can keep the library open 24/7 and have one floor just for laptop users to go to when they need to get away from the dorms to study.
I remember my first trip to the computer lab.. (Score:3, Informative)
even back in 1997, was apparently the thing to do for overseas students. I remember being perplexed as to why the lab was so slow when I had heard there were dual oc3 pipes coming into the place.
I was sitting at the back so I had a quick look around and I noticed 99% of the computers were taken up by an asian student all independently streaming the same TV show..
I don't know what the quality rate was, because it appeared to be a asian drama/movie, but whatever it was times about 50 machines would be enough to choke most connections.
Especially since this was one of on about half a dozen labs.
It certainly wasn't collaborative or someone would have gotten them some headphone splitters..
A couple of benifits (Score:2, Informative)
First, almost all of our courses from the sophomore level on up require development in Linux. Many students use Linux on their personal machines, but many more do not. Most of the students have absolutely no experience with Linux or a command line at all prior to taking their first course that requires it. If a prerequisite to these courses was that you first install Linux on your own computer, I bet that would scare away a bunch of students, especially non-majors who just want to take a couple of courses to help them better understand computing to help their work in other fields.
A second, related benefit to having labs is that you can have a standardized set of development tools. We tell students that they are welcome to use their own computers to complete assignments. However, we will test their programs on a university lab computer, and they should do the same before turning their code in so that they know it will build and run properly during grading.
Most of these problems could be mitigated to a certain extent by providing free use of a standardized Linux VM image, but I for one would rather avoid doing large projects inside an instance of VMWare.
Labs are always full (Score:1, Informative)
As a student who works for the company at my University that runs the campus computer labs, I have to point out that every day the labs are always full. 99% of the students at my university have their own computers, but all the labs are still always full. Often students want a clean-running computer to type a paper and print. These days, students' computers are ridden with malware, spyware, and viruses and most students don't know how to remove them. Instead of running a thorough scan or reformatting their computer, its often easier just to go down the street to a campus lab. My roommate refuses to type papers on his laptop, he says he can only focus in computer labs. That's also not to mention that the campus computers often have thousand dollar software that students need for a specific class, but would never consider buying.
The day my University takes away its computer labs, it will have a massive protest on its hands. Computer labs are an invaluable component of a 21st century education.
Lots of reasons for labs. (Score:1, Informative)
I'm a college student who owns their own laptop, and still use computer labs frequently, for reasons like:
-I need to print something and my printer isn't working.
-My roommate/neighbors/the construction crew outside are being too noisy. One poster said to live off-campus, but some schools don't allow that your first year or two except for extenuating circumstances, and even an apartment doesn't guarantee you won't have party animals or sex addicts for neighbors.
-My computer isn't working and it's getting repaired. This happens to almost everyone at some point or another.
-At one point, I did not have a laptop, and was using a desktop instead, which obviously couldn't be carried around campus.
-I have to carry heavy textbooks all over campus, and adding a laptop would just be too much.
-The class requires software that's too expensive for me to buy on my own.
-I'm having problems installing or running the required software for a class on my computer.
And, of course, there's lab components of computer classes, graphic design classes, or any other class that might require a computer or internet access at any time.