Larry Henderson, FAMU's chief information officer, estimates that half of FAMU's student's don't have computers of their own, and less than 25 percent have laptops.
The digital divide (at FAMU) is alive and well, said Henderson.
To help combat this problem, Henderson said "it's better for FAMU to improve access to on-campus computers and provide more training in programs such as PowerPoint and Excel than insist on students buying laptops."
"To prep for the online word of employment, it requires PC literacy, not a four-year-old laptop," said Henderson, adding, "We're in the process of increasing our Internet speed."
To accomplish its technology goals, FAMU will have to spend a significant amount to upgrade its long-neglected infrastructure. Henderson will deliver that price tag to the university's board of trustees in June, but wasn't ready yet to say how much.
For an overview of the technology issues at Tallahassee's three campuses click here:Technology Rush
Honestly, FAMU should start charging a technology fee to all incoming freshmen. This fee would pay for a laptop and a printer for each student. It's cheaper to do this than to build more computer labs and have them staffed, etc.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous @ 12:01,
ReplyDeleteGood idea, but the tech fee would be somewhere around $2,000 a year.
A better idea is the program that Wake Forest implemented in the 90's.
Include the cost of computer technology into the cost of education that is covered and insured. Thereby enabling those students on financial aid to have this covered in their financial aid package.
As far as the infrastructure, this was paid from unrestricted endowment earnings. Now FAMU's endowment is no where near Wake Forest's, but one can always elicit the support of outstanding faculty/grant writers and maybe corporate america to offset what's not supported by the legislators.
http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/html/cmr9906/cmr9906.html
$2,000 a year? What are you giving students, IBM super computers? Last I checked, you could get a Dell laptop for around $500. I think it's reasonable to think with volume purchasing that the school could secure a laptop and a printer for around $500-$600. You could also offer a rebate (maybe $100 for turning in the old laptop) if students want to upgrade to a newer model in a couple of years.
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