Computers In The Classroom
• In Blacksburg, Va., Virginia Tech's engineering college is requiring all 1,400 incoming freshmen to purchase tablet PCs, and the college is recommending that they buy from Fujitsu. In 1984, the college became the first public one in the country to require engineering freshmen to own a PC. By 2002, it moved to laptops, and equipped many of its academic buildings with wireless access. The advantages have been more than academic: During the horrific shooting rampage that took place on campus in April, students were able to communicate wirelessly with needed urgency to each other, the school community and their families.
• Round Rock, Texas-based Dell planned to sell 1,900 notebook computers this year--and another 2,000 in fall 2008--for middle and high-school students at the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District near Los Angeles. The arrangement is intended to close a digital divide in the region, placing these young people on equal technological footing with students in wealthier school systems.
• At the University of California, San Diego (UCSD)--thanks to a Hewlett-Packard grant program--an academically focused blogging project has been launched to help computer-science students better grasp difficult lecture content. As the professors present their materials in class, students blog in realtime, using the pen function to highlight key points, provide alternative illustrations to peers and even offer simple encouragement to students.
Next: Getting Into A Routine GETTING INTO A ROUTINE
Overall, the goal is to embed the notebooks into students' regular routines. The notebook becomes a tool that the student wouldn't think of leaving behind. Part of achieving that goal means making the use of computers a compelling experience.
"We set it up like 'Survivor,'" said Beth Simon, a UCSD faculty member in the computer-science and engineering department. "We gave five tablets to five students, and used a vote-off process until we ended up with the survivors who ran the best blogs. Those are the students who understood their audience the best and knew how to communicate with them. Sometimes, it was just a matter of commenting on the blog while the lecture was going on, with, 'Hang in there. This is tough material, but we're all in the same boat,' if just to encourage other students, to let them know that they're not alone."
Mobile technology is now part and parcel of the classroom culture. Students have grown up with mobile computers and handhelds--most of them figured out how to text message, build a MySpace profile and download music before they took an algebra class. Today, mobile devices are as common among kids as the wheeled Heelys on their feet.
"Communications between teachers and students are improving all the time," said Thomas Stubben, general manager at Timpanogos Technologies, a Salt Lake City-based solution provider that's selling Palm-integrated solutions to a number of public school districts. "It's not only about making assignments or issuing tests via wireless technology, but sending out reminder notes and customized messages based upon a student's performance and special needs."
Timpanogos' solution, called SchoolWork, also provides a full accessory keyboard that expands the Palm for writing term papers and note-taking. SchoolWork also accommodates video, sound and other multimedia teaching materials, with an SD memory card for expanded storage.
Industry leaders say this segment of the market is enjoying the same kind of surge that mobile computers overall are experiencing. In the United States, there were 26.1 million shipments of mobile computers in 2006, compared with 39.4 million shipments of desktop computers. That's a big increase from 2005, when 21.6 million mobile computers were shipped compared with 42.3 million shipments of desktops, according to market-research firm IDC. The gap will only continue to close, and by 2008, mobile computer shipments will surpass those of desktops, with 37.3 million mobile shipments compared with 34.8 million desktop shipments, according to IDC projections.
U.S. classrooms are expected to be major contributors to that shift. By 2011, half of the computer devices used by students will be mobile, up from roughly one-fifth of the devices today, according to the America's Digital Schools Report from Greaves Group, a San Diego-based educational consulting group. A number of factors are contributing to that. Ad hoc networks allow wireless devices to be added at any time, with advanced routing capability to deliver and connect with more data and new media applications.
"With the technology integration that's out there today, it's easier than ever to integrate computer instruction into the lesson plan," said Shawn P. McCarthy, director of research over government vendor programs for Government Insights, an IDC company that focuses on the federal, state and local market segments, including education. "Also, laptops are especially useful for special-ed students, allowing for electronic readers for the blind and icon-based response systems for kids with limited motor ability."
VARs such as Waipahu, Hawaii-based GeminiTech are selling thousands of tablet computers in the public sector space--with software integration from Microsoft's Office Suite with OneNote--and much of the sales surge is fueled these days within the education sector.
"Schools, both public and private, are ordering notebook and tablet PC computers at the highest rates we've ever worked with--as fast as they receive the technology funding," said Karen James, CEO of GeminiTech. "One lesser-known reason for the increases in mobility demand is facility demands. Older schools simply don't have the physical infrastructure for the electrical wiring, networking and physical space for traditional desktops. That's where the smaller, mobile computer that runs on batteries, and wireless access comes in."
GeminiTech's hardware partner, HP, is working with another VAR, Cleveland-based MCPc Computer Products and Consulting, to provide about 1,300 tablet computers to Grove City College, roughly 110 miles east of the city--enough for every student to have one. Thanks to the computers' DyKnow software, students can now alert professors in realtime during lectures whether they understand the subject matter or not, using a green flag/yellow flag/red flag coding system.
"If they understand it, they send out a green flag," said Cheryl Hewett, segment marketing manager of HP's education team. "If not, they send out one of the other flags. That helps the professor decide whether he or she needs to reteach the material."
Mobile technology helps enhance the students' learning experience. "Mobile technology is definitely a focus for HP now," Hewett said. "It is becoming ubiquitous in students' lives."
For Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Fujitsu Computer Systems, the LifeBook T4000 and new T2000 series are gaining strong visibility. Models can weigh as little as 1.56 pounds. By using the tablet's stylus pen and digital ink, students draw designs and solve problems in class and get immediate feedback from instructors.
"The term 'notebook' now is taking on a new meaning--best of all, with no paper cuts," said Paul Moore, senior director of mobile product marketing at Fujitsu.
Next: Part Of The Community PART OF THE COMMUNITY
Establishing a presence in the education market can also improve a company's reputation as a community leader, and, thus, open up spillover sales prospects. Dell's work with Hacienda La Puente Unified School District will allow students to eventually purchase the computers back from the school system for only $35--providing a great technology boost for students who otherwise may not be able to afford mobile products.
"It's very core within our values to make a difference in the communities where we live and call home," said Kathy Thomas, who manages Dell's education strategies. "As a result, we look to establish ourselves in the classroom, investing in programs that support low-income areas. We also get involved in programs that, for example, are intended to get girls more involved in leadership roles when it comes to technology."
Thanks to the boom in distance learning and cyberschools, VARs and vendors are finding that they don't need to focus on a geographic campus setting to establish great sales among education customers. After supplying Northwest Missouri State University with 250 Gateway notebooks for faculty, online registration increased by 15 percent among distance-learning students. (Gateway, which is selling its professional business segment to MPC, has also sold 2,500 of its notebooks to Northwest Missouri State for its students and staff.) Vernon Hills, Ill.-based CDW Government (CDW-G) is supplying notebook computers for 6,000 students in grades 5-12 for Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School.
"This is a place where its students are all over the state, learning remotely," said Bob Kirby, senior director of K-12 education sales for CDW-G. "They use the computers as their virtual classroom, accessing curriculum, interacting with teachers and taking tests. There is so much more to this than getting students to learn PowerPoint. Wikis, blogs and Web 2.0 enable teachers to create and share lessons and really make a connection with students."
Companies specializing in network infrastructure also see opportunities at traditional schools. Colubris Networks, a Waltham, Mass., hardware provider, reports 50 percent to 60 percent annual growth in its education market sales, with increasing demand for products that allow for hot-spot access for wireless coverage, voice-over WLAN and visitor-account management.
"Teachers want to be able to roam inside a classroom now," said Carl Blume, director of marketing. "They want to bring wireless computing to students at their desks and other locations. As a result, wireless is increasingly becoming the default mode of network access as schools discover the cost savings of using WiFi technology, rather than paying to wire entire buildings."