At Old Dominion University (my previous employer) we went to a combination of a few central labs, a virtual computer lab, and a learning commons area. The students really embraced the learning commons which included configurable furniture with power outlets, group meeting rooms with TVs/projectors, printers that were accessible wirelessly, as well as some computer stations. Most students opted to just bring their own laptops or tablets and then used our power, wi-fi, printers, and tvs/monitors and were very happy with the setup. In most of the new academic buildings going up rather than providing dedicated labs the decision was made to offer more learning commons spaces.
I really see this as the future of the university computer lab -- offering an comfortable area for students to work on their own laptops/tablets while being able to utilize university resources and meeting spaces. http://www.odu.edu/learningcommons/ Josh Robertson Sr. Wireless Engineer / InfoSecurity Admin Denver Public Schools Department of Technology Services (720)423-3675 To open a new support call, please call the DoTS Hotline at 720-423-3888 On 8/21/13 2:56 PM, "Eric T. Barnett" <ebarn...@astate.edu> wrote: >We have a new Liberal Arts building that is currently in construction. >The floor plans aren't quite nailed down yet but there was something on >the current plans that made me wonder. There's no less than six computer >labs in the building. Seeing that we make all of our Freshmen buy iPads >and that laptops are super cheap nowadays, I was wondering just how >useful computer labs are now/will be in the next two years or so. Getting >rid of most or all of those labs would cut down on costs considerably. >I've heard of some colleges dumping computer labs as they seem to be >needed less and less as users have more and more tech available cheaply. >What's your take? > >Regards, > >Eric Barnett >Senior Network Engineer/Wireless Administrator >Information and Technology Services >Arkansas State University >(870) 680-4243 >http://wireless.astate.edu > > > ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
