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Wireless' Lab Rats
By Laurel Druley, Minnesota Public Radio
March 2001
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Wireless technologies like Internet-ready phones and hand-held computers are starting to change the way Minnesotans live and work. Young people are generally early adopters when it comes to new technology, so it's no surprise some schools are eagerly pursuing ways to utilize wireless technologies. Minnesota State University in Mankato is staking its claim as a leader in the next wave of the campus digital revolution, and other state campuses are not far behind.
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ONE-HUNDRED-AND-TWENTY BUSINESS STUDENTS at Minnesota State University are sporting the latest in wireless laptop computers and phones, courtesy of funding from two high-tech firms.
They lease the machines at a reduced rate from Mankato-based Midwest Wireless and Finnish telecommunications giant Nokia. In return, the students participate in regular focus groups to help the companies' marketers and engineers refine their product.
MSU Chief Information Officer Mark Johnson says an adaptor card in a laptop enables the machine to log onto a campus-wide wireless network. Johnson says students enjoy the freedom the new technology brings.
"They want to be mobile. They want the technology not to lock them down. That's your typical student. How do you picture a student? A student is someone with a backpack on. They're moving around. They're going to classes. They live in a different place. We're trying to make sure they have technology tools that allow them to do that," says Johnson.
Here's how the system works: MSU installs small book-sized boxes at various spots around campus, and these "access points" beam radio waves to each laptop within range.
Johnson says the wireless tools enable students to manage their time better, particularly when they're doing group projects. He says the equipment is also important because 80 percent of MSU's 15,000 students hold jobs outside of school.
Elizabeth Dragseth, a junior at MSU, accesses the network from what students call the "crossroads," a popular campus hang-out. She says professors are assigning more team projects since the new technology's been available, and students use their wireless devices to get in touch.
"It makes it a lot easier to communicate with professors," she says. "It helps motivate people just to know that there are other people out there doing the homework and they're online and I know that a lot of times we'll be online and we'll talk to different people and say 'Are you doing accounting?'"
Dragseth admits that sometimes she and her classmates may use the technology for activities other than the intended purpose, like e-mailing friends or shopping online during a dull lecture.
Some professors have built Web pages where students can get study guides or log onto a chat room to discuss questions about assignments. What the school's calling "smart classrooms" allow what a professor writes or draws on a special board to be downloaded onto students' computers. Neither feature is all that unique. What's new is the students' ability to access the information by way of wireless, networked computers.
Not all reaction to the new equipment is positive. John Kellenowski, a professor of strategic management, discovers one of the hidden costs of utilizing new technology when he tries to set up his Powerpoint presentation in a smart classroom.
"I think the students, in terms of their reaction, is probably more positive across the board than maybe some of our faculty who are challenged. I struggle with how much time it takes to be efficient with the technology. I find myself spending more time than I like to because I can't get this to work right this second," he says.
Although many professional training workshops are available for instructors, he says learning how to use the equipment is a major time commitment.
Other professors agree that it hasn't really changed the way students learn but it's made them more efficient.
One indication many students like the expanded possibilities of wireless networking is they don't mind paying for it. One student says she pays about $550 a semester for a leased laptop, software and 24-hour technical support, and thinks it's well worth the price. She says her classmates who can't afford it can apply for scholarships from the college of business.
MSU has also established links with other high-tech firms, including AT&T, Compaq, Lucent, Dell and Microsoft.
Observers say such ties between universities and tech firms are becoming increasingly common. Steve Robinson, vice president of Madison-based Discourse Technologies, an educational software developer, says companies see colleges as the perfect market for testing new products.
"They get wide-eyed when they think about the numbers; the millions of students, the hundreds and thousands of schools and the thousands of districts. They know these institutions - particularly higher-ed institutions - don't have this infrastructure, don't have this hardware and they need it," he says.
MSU is just one of several small-town universities in the state hoping technology can help them remain competitive.
Winona State and Bemidji State have also formed partnerships with wireless companies. The University of Minnesota-Crookston in 1993 became the first school in the nation to make laptops mandatory. Ninety-nine percent of Crookston's classrooms have hook-up capabilities so students can plug in and log on just about anywhere.
A Crookston spokesperson says the school has further plans for utilizing wireless technology. One application might be to enable students in the horse management program to log on from the stables.
MSU and other colleges are also looking into the possibility of encouraging students to use hand-held computers. MSU recently received a sizable federal grant, which aims to put palm-top devices in the hands of some students next fall.
Les Wanninger, a wireless and e-commerce specialist at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management, says such technology is promising, but he adds colleges will have to find ways to prevent its abuse.
"I'm sure you'll find situations where test answers to questions are passed back and forth in class thru text messaging where no one can detect it. Those are things that will always happen, but the ability to communicate better with students wherever they are - for them not to have to go to a lab or go back home to look at their e-mail. Those kinds of things will be big big positives," says Wanninger.
Finding ways to exploit those positives give schools all the incentive they need to continue expanding their use of wireless technologies. The trick will be ensuring they're used properly.
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