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Internet
prerequisite
Like many mainland schools,
By Susan Kreifels
some isle universities are
making owning a computer
a requirement
Star-BulletinStudent Jeffrey Ramoran turns to the desktop computer in the University of Hawaii-Manoa design class and points out his girlfriend's image on the screen saver.
No problem. He's not tampering with government property -- the desktop belongs to him.
The UH-Manoa school of architecture requires students to have their own computers, and provides high-speed Internet connections and secure work sites.
Although some students said the demand was a financial burden, "that's where the profession is at," said Cody McAllister, who spent most of his summer income to buy his computer. "It's a good investment." Not to mention the short-term benefits, like checking sports scores and playing computer games when bored in class.
The Internet is revolutionizing the way students learn and how they communicate with professors and each other. Faculty members, in turn, are changing the way they teach.
The University of Phoenix now requires all students to have computer access and email addresses before they enroll. And Chaminade University is considering requiring students to purchase computers upon acceptance. More than 100 colleges and universities across the nation are already doing so, according to the New York Times.University officials in Hawaii cite these reasons: courses include so much Internet content that students can't complete assignments without a computer, and to do all the work at a campus computer center is unrealistic. Nor can schools afford to provide a computer for every student. Such requirements also give schools more control over their technology investments.
Most of all, they say, it's simply a sign of the times: a good investment, with the help of financial aid, that better prepares students for the future.
"We look upon the computer much like pencil and paper," said Dennis Yamauchi, assistant to the dean at UH-Manoa's school of architecture. "Basically it comes back to what you want to invest in your education. We now are in a new economy, and that means there has been a change in how people look upon education."
Boosting creativity, grades
Architecture students agreed that Web learning has enhanced their education and prepared them for the "real world," where being computer savvy assures better jobs.A. Spencer Leineweber, an associate professor of architecture, said the school's 2-year-old computer requirement and heavy reliance on the Internet has made students "blossom in their creativity" because they can draft by hand as well as by computer. If students can get lecture notes off the Web, there are the obvious temptations. "There are classes I would most certainly not go to if they're on the Web," said architecture student Jon Lipka. "It depends on the instructor."
But Leineweber hasn't noticed a drop in attendance. In fact, student performance has improved. She posts lecture notes on the class Web site for "students who slept through my entire lecture." Slides for her history class are also posted, and test scores have doubled.
Students know when she goes online so they can "chat" with her. "That alleviates a lot of stress before an exam," she says. Students also turn in papers via the Internet.
One architecture class next semester will be virtual -- communication will be totally online. But Leineweber says reliance on computers doesn't mean less time with professors -- on the contrary, it frees time for more one-on-one discussion. And if students have financial difficulties, they can get student loans to buy computers, Leineweber said.
The University of Phoenix has phased in its computer requirement during the past three years so students wouldn't be caught off guard financially, said Robert W. McIntosh, chairman of the university's information systems and technology department.Before students enroll, they must sign a form that they have access to a personal computer and an email address. If students aren't computer literate, they won't make it. McIntosh, whose students must file all assignments via Internet, said: "Homework assignments are impossible to complete without computers."
Most faculty have a Web page that includes a course syllabus and lists grades within five days.
The school can't afford to provide a computer for each of its 1,400 working adult students, and even if it could, doing so much computer work on campus would be difficult, he said.
McIntosh said he and the university work with students to make sure everyone gets email and computer access. "Students must be up to snuff if they're going to compete," McIntosh said.
Jon Van Pelt is working on a master's degree in information systems at the University of Phoenix. Some students were upset when the university started the computer requirement, he said. But then they discovered online resources and how much easier it was to communicate with professors, and "now they say it's great."
Chaminade University, meanwhile, is moving toward computer requirements, said spokesman Peter Wolf. For now, officials are keeping watch on their sister school, the University of Dayton (Ohio), which required computers for the first time this academic year.
At Dayton, students either purchase computers or lease them through the school.
Chaminade has committed $400,000 to convert all dorm and class rooms for computer connections and to make faculty and students computer literate.
"We're leaning toward it," Wolf said about the requirements.
And, he adds, "if you invest in technology infrastructure, you should have some ability to control what's connected to it."
Brings world into classroom
While other schools in Hawaii say they don't require computers, their faculty are relying more and more on the Internet. Hawaii Pacific University is offering a growing number of e-courses and "Web-enhanced classes," according to Stephen Simpson, vice president of HPU's Learning Support Services.Michael Canute, an HPU biology instructor, does everything on the Web except give exams, and he's working on that. This summer his students will be able to see him lecturing online.
"It forces students to work throughout the week on anatomy and physiology," Canute said. "They can't just come to the lecture and listen. They have to go home and look at extra material."
The Web allows instructors to stretch their assignments around the world.
At UH-Manoa, Stephen Fleming, instructor in technology for foreign languages, developed a Chinese course in which students study authentic texts in the Chinese language -- for example, newspaper articles written by native speakers. UH students writing in Chinese exchanged assignments with graduate students in Taiwan writing in English. Fleming plans to offer the course nationwide.
According to the New York Times, university computer requirements have grown in the past five years, spreading from smaller schools to large public institutions.Some schools raise tuition to cover costs, then mail laptops to students. Students usually pay about $3,000 for a laptop loaded with software designed for each institution, then trade them in for new models during their junior or senior years, the report said.
David McClain, dean of the UH-Manoa College of Business Administration, recently asked students if they would support computer requirements at the college.
"The students said the price of computers would have to come down," McClain said. "At the moment they're pretty happy with the (computer) labs."
McClain said the college provides 200-300 computers for student use, and he encourages faculty to be Web-creative.
With computer requirements, it's costing universities millions of dollars to upgrade classrooms so there are plugs and Internet connections at every seat. Some are looking at wireless technology.
About one-quarter of UH-Manoa dorms are wired for Internet connection, and all will be in coming years, said David Lassner, UH director of information technology. UH-Hilo is looking at a wireless project. The Manoa campus has more than 1,000 computers -- about one for every 17 students.
UH is not considering computer requirements, Lassner said. Surveys show 85 percent of students already have access to computers at home, and he calls such requirements at other universities "hype."
"It's a transient problem," Lassner said. "This will become a non-issue over time."
