Life with laptops at IU 'dynamic'

Ph.D. student Eric Ban sat at his dark Dell laptop in the Education Library and hovered the mouse-pointer over a printer icon.\n"I can send wireless to that printer -- anything I want," Ban said, gesturing at the library's printer.\nHis laptop wasn't cabled at all, but the printer groaned and spat out the file he printed.\nIU is becoming wireless.\nSince last year, some buildings have been made wireless-networked, including the Education Library, the Chemistry Library and the Undergraduate Library. At these libraries, students such as Ban can access printers and the Internet without hooking their computers up to a cable by using laptops equipped with transmission cards. Education professors say the pace of wireless conversion will pick up and advanced wireless technology will help improve teaching and learning considerably -- unless faculty shies away from the new approach.\n"It's like making everything dynamic and just-in-time," education professor Robert Appelman said, who specializes in instructional technology. \nThe Bloomington campus will mostly become wireless-networked in five years, Appelman predicted. Students and teachers will be able to go online, update their Web sites and trade their files freely within the wireless areas, boosting class productivity. Laptops will become prevalent, sending desktops out of fashion.\nBan already prefers sticking to his laptop instead of school-supplied desktops. \n"It's convenient for me to have everything in the same computer," Ban said.\nIn five years a wireless network will spread worldwide, said education professor Curtis Bonk, who specializes in computerized education.\n"Whether students are in grocery stores or at Nick's, they'll be able to tap into the Internet and respond to their classes," Bonk said.\nAlso, students and faculty will be able to exchange "authentic, real-world meaningful data" globally, he said.\n"If you teach economics, you want to know about rolling blackouts in California, gas shortages and economic collapses," Bonk said. "If students have real-world information -- say, they're doing an internship in California -- they're ready to provide current things for your class to discuss."\nCampus polls, surveys and course-feedbacks will enjoy high response rates as students and faculty will travel across Bloomington carrying their laptops or hand-held gadgets, Bonk said.\nIf unable to adjust to the coming wireless age, schools will close, Bonk said. Waves of online colleges and freelance instructors will surge into the market and compete with existing schools, he said.\nThe University Information Technology Services appears up for the competition and will probably put IU ahead of others, Appelman and Bonk said.\n"But UITS is a support organization," Appelman said. "They cannot drive instruction."\nWhether students will benefit from wireless tools depends on the faculty's willingness to explore wireless technologies, Appelman said. If instructors avoid the tools, "then nothing will happen," he said.\n"We are trying to say (to faculty), 'Look at the learning curb of students. Look at their engagement and enthusiasm. And if you just use those technology tools, you will end up with much more excited students with better productivity and everything,'" Appelman said.\nBut many instructors are slow to embrace new technologies, he added.\n"They should start going to laptops and get off their desktops," Appelman said. \nWith laptops, instructors can prepare class materials beforehand and bring them into wireless classrooms, he said. There, they can hook their laptops into media equipment and play or display the materials they prepared.\nTo encourage faculty, the school needs to provide more support for laptop users, Appelman said. Bonk agreed.\n"And IU needs to provide faculty training and support and help us share ideas," Bonk said. "Sharing teaching ideas -- with or without technology -- is a central function of a faculty member in the 21st Century"