PRO (Samantha Stein):
I almost agree that it is a poor decision on the part of Michigan Tech, but I’m going to highlight some of the positives. Having a laptop is, of course, beneficial. It allows for easier work in class rather than having to schedule courses in rooms with computers. Such rooms are limited so anything that can help limit conflicts is beneficial.
I don’t think it’s possible to enforce such a thing without a few drawbacks. For example, what about the students who are from less fortunate financial backgrounds? Getting a laptop can be expensive. That is where having the computers across campus is beneficial as well. As stated in the other side, there is some evidence that Michigan Tech does not care about the cost of attendance.
At the end of the day, however, the world is very focused on the use of technologies. A student will need to be able to work on a computer regularly. Requiring students to have laptops helps reinforce models that may exist in their career or field of study. According to the College of Engineering website, “The College of Engineering’s First-Year Engineering Program is moving to a new model of instruction called a ‘flipped classroom.’ The flipped classroom is grounded on the idea that students will prepare for class by doing readings and using other resources before class time. Once in class, students will work to solve problems, discuss applications of engineering, and participate in engineering projects. To facilitate this model, each student must have a laptop of their own to prepare before class and to participate fully in class.”
With a flipped model, technology is a key tool. While students can complete their work on a school desktop in the library or any of the other buildings on campus, as I mentioned above, there is limited availability for classrooms with computers for all the classes that would need them.
With all this said, I don’t believe that students should be expected to spend $900 to $1,500 on a laptop that meets requirements the school has set. Students can use some of their financial aid, but even that is not a guarantee.
CON (Anthony Lackey):
Michigan Technological University has begun implementing a new requirement for incoming freshman in 2017. This is targeted at all engineering students and requires them to have laptops in their possession for classes.
The minimum specifications of the laptops as defined by the MTU IT department are termed high in an effort to make these computers capable of running engineering programs used in class work such as NX or MATLAB. This is a noble goal and targeted at the flipped classroom approach to learning where students do the majority of the groundwork for learning on their own time outside of the classroom before the lesson. Then they come to the class to participate in the discussion and ask questions on knowledge already learned in order to facilitate the retention and applicability of the knowledge that they have acquired.
I think that this is a poor decision on the part of the MTU administration because the vast majority of students come to MTU with a computer already in hand. Additionally, the computer workstations offered on campus give ready access to necessary programs and items of need. Also, students will come to MTU with desktop towers that are capable of running the most strenuous of programs – but are not portable and do not comply with this new standard. These students are then charged an additional $700-$1000 simply by not having a portable computer.
This is all the more evidence that MTU does not care about the cost of attendance and simply does not care about the student’s role in the cost of education.
In addition, this costs MTU more licenses to acquire more software for each new machine that is placed on the network. This will cause again prices to rise as more licenses are bought for “free” by students who have multiple computers shunting more of the cost on future students as the cost of tuition will rise to cover all of the licensing agreements that MTU has signed for the students benefit.
