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Hardware & Software :: Laptop Programs
No Digital Divide
1/1/2008
Hewlett-Packard, which acquired Compaq in 2002. Current HP models in use by faculty and students include the PC4200, PC4400, and TC1100. All hardware and software is completely replaced every four years, although some older equipment may find a home in, for instance, a language lab, which does not require the most advanced technology.Vince DiStasi, GCC's CIO and VP of IT, boasts that because the school has had a commitment to mobile technology for so many years, technology is part of the community mindset. "The technology is so ingrained, nobody thinks about it," he says. "There's no digital divide. All our students get a tablet PC, printer, scanner, and copier. It's not optional." Granted, DiStasi admits that GCC's relatively small student body makes it easier to provide more of the latest technology as well as monitor precisely how well it's working. "With 2,500 students, you can really get your hands around technology."
The partnership with HP is "going extremely well," he adds. "We consider HP leaders in this technology, and very reliable. We benefit from HP's expertise, from knowing and interacting with its engineers. They ask for our input, and they get feedback from us, which they put into their products." Overall, he says, HP is able to help GCC "think digitally," and incorporate more technology into the curriculum.
And although reliable hardware is critical, it isn't enough to seal the deal with a vendor, points out DiStasi. "You've got to look at the whole package-that's key. You can't invest in laptops without a solid back end." In the case of Grove City College, that back end, under agreements with Microsoft and HP, includes tech support, a 48-hour turnaround on on-site repairs, and other services such as reformatting hard drives- all of which supplement GCC's own IT support staff.
Support Is Key
A vendor's commitment to support and intimate involvement in a university's needs are vital to a successful partnership, according to Brent Jones, director of IT at Morehead State University (KY). The college does not require its roughly 9,000 students to use laptops or tablets, but strongly encourages participation in the university's laptop leasing program; this past year, the tablet PC offered was Gateway's M280E. Each machine has a two-year lifecycle, at the end of which the student has the option to purchase by paying the PC's residual value. Machines not bought by students are sold for surplus after warranty expiration, or transferred to public K-12 schools or state programs such as Kentucky's No Child Left Offline.
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