Wireless campus no longer a dream for university students

A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

While it is not uncommon to see university students lounging around in campus parks, these days they more likely to be typing on their laptops; browsing the Internet or writing term papers.

Some campuses are now equipped with wireless transceivers that function like modems, making it unnecessary for students to plug in their computers to log onto the Internet.

Coverage is over a wide area, and students can freely access the Internet or e-mail their lecturers if their laptops are equipped with an Intel Centrino chip.

Intel Indonesia country manager Budi Wahyu Jati said the technology was making information more accessible and portable. Students now had a much wider range of information at their fingertips -- they didn't have to rely only on course materials, their lecturers or the library -- and were no longer trapped in study cubicles or classrooms, he said.

Four universities in the country have started using the technology -- the Pelita Harapan University (UPH) of Jakarta, the Bandung Institute of Technology, the Sultan Agung University of Semarang, and the Stikom Computer School of Surabaya -- as part of the Mobile Initiative for Learning in Education in cooperation with Intel.

Budi said a study of wireless technology in learning overseas showed it could reduce education costs by up to 30 percent.

"A study was carried out in universities abroad, but in Indonesia, the technology has only just begun, so we can't measure the results yet," Budi said.

He said the four universities had joined 300 universities in the Asia-Pacific region that had adopted mobile and wireless technology.

UPH vice president Jonathan L. Parapak said he hoped the new techonology would make his university more competitive in the education market.

"The benefits that accrue from implementation of the technology are greater than the investment for the equipment," Jonathan said.

He said the university had collaborated with Intel to provide 3,000 laptops for its students.

A class with dozens of personal computers was no longer needed since students bought their own computers.

Sultan Agung deputy rector Sumirin said wireless technology could cover their 35-hectare campus without the need to use a fiber-optic network any longer.

"In the past we used fiber-optic cables to connect computers in our buildings. The maintenance is more expensive and complicated," Sumirin said.

However, new technology could only be useful if the students were ready to use it. Their attitudes were more important than the technology itself, he said.