IP: Good point re: UNIVERSITIES MANDATE MOBILE USE : Edupage, November 19, 2001

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> From: Russell Nelson <nelson () crynwr com>
>
> David Farber writes:
>  > UNIVERSITIES MANDATE MOBILE USE
>  > Colleges and universities in the United States as well as
>  > overseas are flirting with or deploying handheld devices
>  > throughout the student population.
>
> I was on the front lines of Clarkson University's deployment of
> student computers, back in 1983.  We were the first university to get
> a computer into every student's hands, through the straightforward
> method of purchasing a computer and funding it through a $200/semester
> computing fee.
>
> The program did not live up to the high hopes that all concerned had
> for it.  First, there was not curriculum-oriented software for the
> machines.  Second, the faculty were only 50% behind the idea.  Third,
> there was no university support for the creation of academic
> software.  Creation of such software was NOT counted towards the
> granting of tenure.
>
> Maybe times have changed, and more academic software is available.
> Maybe more general-purpose software can be easily adapted.  Maybe more
> software tools are available so that non-programmers can program.
> Maybe the ready availability of powerful computers and the Internet
> will make the new computing paradigm work in the university setting.
>
> But the chief problem -- that software is not valued in the tenure
> decision -- remains, as far as I can see.
>
> --
> -russ nelson <sig () russnelson com>  http://russnelson.com
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