Wireless campus no longer a dream for university students
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.