Spring Break
Blackboard in your pocket
Daily Vidette Editorial Staff
Issue date: 9/3/08 Section: Editorials
With the new meal plans, hotel construction, dorm remodeling and constant updates, lots of changes are taking place on-campus.
These advancements are a big deal, but other campuses across America are participating in a different kind of update: technology. Technology none other than the iPod Touch and the iPhone.
At schools such as the University of Maryland, they announced they would provide the devices to their students this fall.
The New York Times reported many benefits to the always-on Internet devices such as messages about canceled classes, delayed buses, campus crises or the cafeteria menu. Plus the obvious, Apple obtaining more and more consumers.
Security alerts fall under campus crises, and this would be beneficial in certain scenarios. If you were on the Quad with five friends, nobody had a laptop with Internet connection and there was a shooter in a building on-campus, you could be automatically updated.
In addition, the universities could make great deals with Apple so the purchase would be of little to no cost for the university.
One of the best benefits speculated was that professors would have to make better attempts to compete with the devices and make class more interesting.
But they shouldn't have to. The point of going to class is not to go online, which can be done any other time and from a computer. The point of going to class is to learn from the teacher. The interaction of teachers and students cannot be replaced simply by an electronic device.
Let's face it: technology, the Internet, Facebook... all of these things already distract us enough, do we really need something else that functions the same way as WebCT or Blackboard?
Although there are some benefits as listed, most of us believe that this is a good idea, but not quite practical. The iPhone right now is just a bandwagon that numerous consumers have jumped on.
The downfalls outweigh the benefits. For instance, the purchase is a waste of money. The money could be used towards helping students with textbook fees or even for an alarm system similar to a tornado siren to warn students of a threat or an emergency.
Receiving a message on a brand new iPhone about a shooter in a building is unnecessary. We could just have a a similar system that uses student's existing cell phones to send the same message.
Several other possible problems exist. Who owns the device, you or the school? Would you allow them to monitor it? What about insurance?
How many times has an electronic device failed you? Cell phones, iPods, laptops, washing machines or any other appliance. Let's not add another.
These advancements are a big deal, but other campuses across America are participating in a different kind of update: technology. Technology none other than the iPod Touch and the iPhone.
At schools such as the University of Maryland, they announced they would provide the devices to their students this fall.
The New York Times reported many benefits to the always-on Internet devices such as messages about canceled classes, delayed buses, campus crises or the cafeteria menu. Plus the obvious, Apple obtaining more and more consumers.
Security alerts fall under campus crises, and this would be beneficial in certain scenarios. If you were on the Quad with five friends, nobody had a laptop with Internet connection and there was a shooter in a building on-campus, you could be automatically updated.
In addition, the universities could make great deals with Apple so the purchase would be of little to no cost for the university.
One of the best benefits speculated was that professors would have to make better attempts to compete with the devices and make class more interesting.
But they shouldn't have to. The point of going to class is not to go online, which can be done any other time and from a computer. The point of going to class is to learn from the teacher. The interaction of teachers and students cannot be replaced simply by an electronic device.
Let's face it: technology, the Internet, Facebook... all of these things already distract us enough, do we really need something else that functions the same way as WebCT or Blackboard?
Although there are some benefits as listed, most of us believe that this is a good idea, but not quite practical. The iPhone right now is just a bandwagon that numerous consumers have jumped on.
The downfalls outweigh the benefits. For instance, the purchase is a waste of money. The money could be used towards helping students with textbook fees or even for an alarm system similar to a tornado siren to warn students of a threat or an emergency.
Receiving a message on a brand new iPhone about a shooter in a building is unnecessary. We could just have a a similar system that uses student's existing cell phones to send the same message.
Several other possible problems exist. Who owns the device, you or the school? Would you allow them to monitor it? What about insurance?
How many times has an electronic device failed you? Cell phones, iPods, laptops, washing machines or any other appliance. Let's not add another.
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