[77] in Resnet-Forum
RE: Why? (and sorry for last msg.)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (BILL SINGLETON)
Tue Nov 30 12:06:16 1993
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1993 11:21:16 -0500 (EST)
From: BILL SINGLETON <SINGLETON@MINNIE.HOLLINS.EDU>
To: resnet-forum@MIT.EDU
Cc: SINGLETON@MINNIE.HOLLINS.EDU
Jim (and others),
I think we considered all of the reasons you mentioned when we
decided to wire our residences. Some, however, had far greater
weight than others.
The most important reason, in my mind, was your #4
> You want to foster an academic environment in which the students
> accept the computer simply another item for the personal tool
> kit, like the telephone, the pencil, and the dictionary.
Computers should become the typewriter of the 90's, in that it is
an indispensable piece of technology that each student should have,
and it is our duty to encourage students to use and become familiar
with them. This is far more likely to occur if students live with
computers than if they are simply "available" somewhere on campus.
Second on my list is your #8
> It's simply an idea whose time has come - ten years from now we
> won't even think about the reasons for residential networking
Third is the entire cost issue (I'm living in a real world). The
cost of computers, of space and of software adds up. There is also
a support cost, we can limit support to those packages we provide.
Given that I have 3 people with other responsibilities (myself
included) to provide software support, this is a real issue. That
takes care of 2, 3, 3a and 7.
Number 9 was a definite reason
> It's a way to make the institution more attractive to prospective
> students, in competition with other institutions. [N.B. This
becomes even more important now that several schools, including us
small, liberal arts colleges have fully networked residences. It
IS drawing students.]
Reasons 5 (universal e-mail), 10 (students come from computer-rich
environments) and 6 (an experiment) were also considerations,
albeit with less weight for us.
Reason 1 (desirability of on-campus residence) was not a factor for
us. There aren't many alternatives here.
Other reasons (which probably fit in somewhere below the cost
issues) are that we have a duty to provide the best preparation for
our students that is possible. We try to equip them with the
mental tools to compete in any endeavors they choose and I feel we
should try to equip them with the physical tools. This is not a
training vs. teaching issue. It is a meta-training issue, if you
wish. Regardless of the life path they choose, our students will
need to have a certain comfort level with computers and networked
environments. I feel that it is one of our duties to provide the
familiarity needed to reach such a comfort level as an adjunct to
their education. I could go on in this vein for some time, but I
think you get my point.
