YOU ARE sitting in a classroom and happen to glance over to the person to your immediate left. On a laptop, she is chatting with four different people over AIM. You glance towards the person on your right; he plays Tetris during the entire lecture. This scene is becoming all too common at the University.
Wireless technology is, of course, a welcome addition to our Internet-savvy generation, but wireless service has a few flaws that need to be addressed, both in terms of improving the service and controlling students' abuse of it in class.
Ranking the wireless service of universities across the nation has become just as prevalent as ranking food, housing and cost. In Intel's 2005 top 50 ranking for the best colleges with wireless accessibility, the University didn't even make the cut. Without monitoring the level of our wireless access across Grounds, not only are our current students' academic experiences impacted, but our national academic standing falls and, even worse, we could lose top prospective students.
Taking a quick glance at wireless service locations on Grounds is impressive. Nearly every building University students use currently has wireless or will have it soon. According to James Jokl, the ITC director of communications and systems, priority to add wireless service was given to areas where students work and study. After these areas were completed, there was a "promise to finish all locations by the end."
The manner in which wireless is installed, however, means that certain floors or areas of buildings may be considered high priority, while other parts of the same building may not be. This explains why, for example, you may receive better wireless signal on the first floor of Clark Hall than when you go into the basement of the library. Jokl says that areas with poor wireless service either have not yet been addressed or do not seem to warrant additional coverage based on student feedback.
When there is poor wireless service in a particular area, students simply move to different areas. While this solution is simple (and sensible) for the student, it means that areas remain without wireless without anyone even knowing. During times of high congestion in areas where students work and study, these areas often fill up and students must do without wireless access.
On the ITC home page, there is a link for "Wireless Access" on the right column. After clicking "Locations and Coverage" there is a link called "Getting Wireless in Your Area." It is from this Web site that students can request wireless coverage in new areas by contacting the ITC project manager. Without requests, the wireless service will not be provided in areas where it remains a problem.
With new improvements come new concerns. Because students often bring laptops to their classes to "take notes," students are also tempted to take advantage of the wireless service. Simply put, students completely disrespect their professors when they use wireless service in class to surf the Internet, check e-mail or communicate with friends using instant messaging software. When the University decided to spend money on creating wireless service on Grounds, it did not imagine that students would use the service in class to stalk friends on Facebook or plan a night out on Rugby Rd.
In particular, wireless service during class is problematic. What students choose to look at during their own time, at the library for example, should not be controlled. Students often use the Internet to make studying a bit less painful, a legitimate use of their own studying time. While class can doubtless feel just as painful, it usually does not span more than an hour and fifteen minutes. If a student feels no obligation to respect his professor, he should at least feel an obligation to pay attention to the professor in order to perform well in class (or he would not come at all). The problem remains, however, in finding a way to control when there is wireless service and when there's not.
The Darden School has found the solution to the problem. According to James Whitlow, a help desk technician at the Darden School, the wireless network automatically shuts off to coincide with class. If the professor wants the students to be able to access the Internet, he or she can flip a switch to activate a network. Students thus are not tempted to access the Internet in class, but it still gives professors the option of using the Internet as a teaching tool. Even better, students continue to have wireless access during their own time.
When I questioned Jokl about implementing such a system in other University buildings, he said there had been "no requests for it." A potential problem, he added, is that many departments are housed in one building with some departments preferring wireless access all the time. Nevertheless, he said, "We'd have to look into it."
Such a system deserves a look. While in an ideal world students would give their complete attention to their professors, this is simply not realistic. Unfortunately, neither is seamless wireless Internet across Grounds. With time, the University can carefully address both wireless issues.
Rajesh Jain is a Cavalier Daily associate editor. He can be reached at rjain@cavalierdaily.com.
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