Issue date: 9/8/08 Section: News

Jason Adamiec, a communication disorders and sciences graduate student, takes notes on his Gateway laptop during his acquired language disorders class on Thursday.(Robbie Wroblewski|Daily Eastern News)

Gail Richard said new technology being used in her department would get students jobs.

"When our students are going out to their internship placements, the supervisors are saying 'Oh my gosh, they're teaching me what to do,'" Richard, chair of communication disorders and sciences, said. "They're really appreciating that our students are coming out so on top of the technology, so this is only going to help."

CDS launched its laptop initiative this summer, starting with the department's graduate program, and then implemented the initiative with undergraduate students this semester.

The department has a contract with Hewlett-Packard that allowed the faculty to set software and system requirement specifications for laptops, which students and faculty can order directly from CDS's laptop initiative Web site.

Richard said technology is beginning to permeate the field of communication disorders and sciences.

"A lot of things we are teaching in our profession have become case-based," she said. "Technology has made it such that, with computers, you can push buttons that will talk for you; you can use them to help diagnose. We were seeing more and more of that come into what we wanted to teach our students."

Richard said before the initiative was launched, students did not get much hands-on experience in class.

"We'd show them a technology and 35-40 students would watch a teacher do that," Richard said. "We didn't think that was a very good learning experience."

CDS professor Rebecca Throneburg said last year the Center for Academic Technology Support provided the department with a cart of laptops to use in classes, which she said eased both students and faculty into this year's transition.

Throneburg said although the initiative is still relatively new, she thinks having the laptops allows professors to use their class time more efficiently.

"In the past, you would spend much of your class time lecturing about the technology," Throneburg said. "Then you would spend a small amount of time practicing and applying."

Throneburg said she has been able to change the format of her class periods because of the laptop initiative. She now records her lectures and gives her students PowerPoint presentations to study before the next class. She said this gives students more time to practice using the technology together.

Students also have the ability to go back and watch a video clip or listen to a lecture again on their own time.

"They can even fast-forward me," Throneburg joked. "But you have a rewind button, too. So, if you didn't get it the first time, you can go back and re-listen."

CDS also uses the laptops in the clinic for community members who have various speech and language disorders. The entire client base is paperless, Richard said.

Students now have the ability to access information about the clients they are observing using their own laptops, as long as the students are in the Human Services Building. Before, these records had to be accessed using a lab.

"We had 40, 50 students who are in clinic who are lining up for those five or so computers so they can get their client information," Richard said.

While the department does not require students to buy a laptop through the initiative, Richard said it is strongly encouraged.

"The graduate students all pretty much jumped on it," she said. "Most of the undergraduate students did too. There were a few who showed up in classes this fall and once they realized 'Oh my gosh, I'm really at a disadvantage sitting in class without this,' they have gone ahead and gotten the laptop."

However, John Henderson, director of instructional technology services for CATS, said he could see why some students or parents might be hesitant at first. "I, as a parent, would say 'OK, how's Johnny really using that? Is he just using it for e-mails, surfing and Facebook?' It has to be curriculum-driven."

Henderson said even with the computers costing more than $1,000, students are getting a deal when they purchase the laptops through CDS's Web site. The laptops are sold at a wholesale price, even to Eastern students and faculty outside of the department.

"It worked out better than I thought it would," Henderson said. "You will definitely be getting a great laptop."

Richard agrees.

"We just said compare what's on it (the laptop) in terms of memory and RAM and if you can match this price, you go for it," she said. "And almost always, students came back because it really is a business-level loaded computer."

Henderson said he is working with both communication studies and journalism to develop laptop initiatives in their departments. He said whether or not an initiative would be beneficial to students and faculty really depends on the nature of the program.

"I think departments that are going to rely on technology for a part of the curriculum had better make sure students have those materials," Henderson said.

While Richard said there have been a few "bumps in the road" while implementing the program, the department is working the issues out with CATS and ITS.

A more secure system for supervisors and students working back and forth on client files will be piloted this year, Henderson said.

And while it took two and a half years to put CDS's initiative into motion, Richard said she thinks more departments should consider developing their own.

"If it works for our department, we have so many very specific requirements, it will be very easy for other departments to jump on this initiative," she said.

Barbara Harrington can be reached at 581-7942 or at bjharrington@eiu.edu.

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