Internet connection key to student life

Technology is everywhere in our lives, but thankfully, IU makes it easy to be technologically savvy.\nIU has been ranked as one of the top-10 "most-wired" campuses since 1997, including a No. 4 ranking in 2000. Since then, IU has maintained its level of "wiredness" and even increased its offerings. Programs like Oncourse, Insite and Knowledge Base help keep students on track academically, and AOL Instant Messenger and IU Webmail help keep students on track socially. \nEducation professor George Kuh said accessibility matters. Kuh published the report "Computing Experience and Good Practices in Undergraduate Education: Does the Degree of Campus 'Wiredness' Matter?" in 2001 along with Shopping Hu from Seton Hall University. The paper, published in Education Policy Analysis Archives, said that in the case of technology, more is always better.\n"Undergraduates attending 'more-wired' campuses ... more frequently used computing and information technology and reported higher levels of engagement in good educational practices than their counterparts at less wired institutions," Kuh said in the report. \nBut a computing life serves more than an educational function; it's an integral part of many students' social lives. Many students keep in touch with family and friends via e-mail and AIM. The service even has breached the last cultural frontier -- pop singer Nikki Cleary recently released the song, "I.M. Me."\n"I have my I.M. up 24 hours a day," said sophomore Amy Linden. "When I'm home, I chat, I check my e-mail a lot and I go to www.gamehouse.com."\nMany students also buy books or CDs online, but some use it to buy just about everything.\n"When I'm not in class, or walking to and from class, I'm on the Internet," said senior Josh Kartes. "I use it for e-mail and for shopping. Anything that's not small purchases or groceries, I buy online.\nComputing also helps Kartes keep on top of his finances and his transcript. \n"I kind of monitor myself with Insite," Kartes said. \nFor sophomore Sassan Yaghmai, the computer clusters and labs located around campus make technology accessible.\n"They have computers everywhere," Yaghmai said. "Macintoshes, PCs -- anything you could need."\nCurrently, the IU campus has 63 labs, 24 of which are accessible for the disabled.\nThe Main Library's new Information Commons is another Web-friendly center IU has created for students.\nWith 250 computers, group workstations, wireless connections and 24/7 accessibility, the Information Commons allow for a physical community as well as a virtual community. \n"Students at more wired schools actually reported more contact with their teachers and more substantive interaction with their peers," Kuh said in his study.\n-- Contact staff writer Kehla West at krwest@indiana.edu.