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The IT Leadership Council is looking into the possibility of BYOD , or bring your own device, to labs throughout the district, Dr.Thomas Cleary, vice chancellor for planning, performance andinformation systems, said. BYOD is certainly one of the major directions that technology isevolving into, he said. Cleary said more students are able to afford technology, and whenthey are coming with their own devices in hand, the district s jobis to accommodate them. In the future, I see that we have to have less of a dependence onthe computer lab space that we have because if we just accommodateall of these technology platforms that they arrive to us with then we re doing them a service, and we re doing us a service aswell, he said. Usha Venkat , director of information and communication technologies,said moststudents have their own computers, and it s easier for them to useone device for all their needs. Everyone has access to a computer or a smartphone or a tablet. Itallows them to use that same piece of equipment for all of theireducational needs instead of having to use a college computer forone thing and then their personal computer for another thing, shesaid. At the March 7 Faculty Senate meeting, math Professor Gerald Busald said the district was pursuing BYOD because of the significant cost to maintain labs districtwide . The announcement brought criticism from Librarian Celita DeArmond , who said the purpose of campus labs is for students to haveaccess to purchased software, such as Microsoft Word andPowerPoint. Venkat said many other colleges and universities allow students to bringtheir own devices and provide necessary hardware and software forstudent s personal computers. Cleary said the acquisition, maintenance and support of hardware isexpensive for colleges and universities. He said with a BYOD approach, the student already owns a device, so colleges anduniversities can focus on the distribution of software and support. It s better for the students because they become mobile, andit s better for the college and university because it cuts oncapital cost, Cleary said. He said usually colleges and universities use savings that aregenerated in the capital cost for software to give students morechoices. Then it s a double win for students, Cleary said. Venkat said BYOD labs would help save money because this college would not have toreplace the 2,622 computers available in 119 labs across campus. She said the college defines a lab as an area with more than fivecomputers accessible to students. However, several labs do not haveup-to-date equipment because this college does not have a desktopreplacement plan. Venkat said the college is implementing one to provide continual upgradesto computer systems to meet student and faculty needs. We are looking at trying to see budgetwise if it would be feasible for us to replace 25 percent of equipmenteach year in a four-year cycling replacement plan, she said. She said computers that were initially purchased for other uses arealso being reallocated to labs. Venkat said this college will have to look into security policies ifsoftware is going to be loaded into a student s computer becauseinformation about the college may be on the computer. So we may have to look at solutions that we can remotely wipe outthat information in case the system gets lost, she said. Venkat said liability issues also will have to be explored becausecollege information will be uploaded into students personaldevices. Primarily, it is something that will help a person to be moreself-sufficient, she said. Venkat said the district is not ready to go completely BYOD and BYOD labs would not eliminate all current labs because not all studentscan afford the technology needed. There s a lot of planning in terms of security and alsoprocedures that have to be planned within this project, she said. I don t predict that we would go 100 percent in the near future,immediately. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China Slotting machinery , Vertical Cutting Machines, and more. For more , please visit Carton Packing today!
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