Swiss German University goes wireless
A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Situation normal in most universities across the country: The students enter the lecture theaters with bags on their shoulders full of books and papers. In the tutorial rooms, they use pens and paper to take notes of what their lecturers say. In breaks they form groups and chat to each other on campus parks or are found in the university computer rooms searching the internet.
However, for well-heeled students at the Swiss German University (SGU) in Serpong, Tangerang, Banten things are about to change starting in August this year, as a result of the institute's ambitious plan to go completely online.
High-tech portable tablet PCs will replace pens and paper in lecture theaters. In the campus parks, students via a wireless connection will be able to use their tablets to find more information about the topics discussed during classes, send e- mails to friends or even submit examination papers to their lecturers.
"Wireless technology will become standard in the campus. We will start it in August this year," unversity rector Prof. Dr. Peter Pscheid said in an interview with The Jakarta Post recently.
The computer room will no longer be needed, as the entire university will be connected, with university students and lecturers able to access the internet from any corner of the campus using their tablets.
The SGU has signed a cooperation agreement with computer producer Hewlett Packard, under which all students and lecturers will be able to buy tablet PCs from the company at a discount price. Currently, the university that started operation in 2000 has about 700 students and dozens of lecturers.
Most of the students graduated from several exclusive private high schools of the country, such as Jakarta's Santa Ursula, Pangudi Luhur, Al Azhar and Lab Schools.
Pscheid, who was former rector of the Institute of Technology St Gallen in Switzerland, is confident the students would not find it difficult to adjust to the university's new system.
"Actually, many of our students already have their own PC tablets. So there will be no difficulty applying the wireless technology," Pscheid said.
He said that the implementation of the system was expected to improve the results of the education at the university, but would also depend on whether the students were willing to avail themselves of the new system.
"So the responsibility is now on the students," Pscheid said.
The SGU will be among the few universities in Indonesia to implement wireless technology.
Located in the BSD City housing estate in Serpong, the SGU has four faculties: Information Technology, Engineering, Business Administration and Life Sciences.
The university, which is sponsored by the governments and private sectors of Germany, Austria, Swiss and Indonesia, is the first in the country to conform to European standards.
Fifty percent of the university's lecturers are foreigners while the remaining are Indonesians who got their PhD or masters degrees from foreign universities.
The university's curriculum is based on the German model with students receiving not only theory but also balanced practical experiences. The students will attend internship programs in companies at home and abroad, such as in Germany.
SGU's bachelor's and masters' degree students have an opportunity to continue their education in Germany after two years of studying at the university.