DANIEL ORTNER: Overcome Technophobia
by Daniel Ortner
Columnists | 3/4/08
Posted online at 1:46 AM EST on 3/4/08
/ Last updated at 11:49 PM EST on 3/4/08
It is vital that students have the ability to add money for printing at will, especially since the library remains open 24 hours during finals period. The Campus Card Office has promised that online purchases with credit cards will soon be available. However, the lack of a mere mention of this new option on their Web site leaves me feeling pessimistic. An even better idea is a system that utilizes both the Internet for credit card purchases and a separate option that allows students to charge copies or laundry loads to their accounts for later payment.
Looking toward academics, we see similar problems. For many students, choosing majors and planning schedules is a daunting task. Currently, students have to reference several resources, including handbooks, as well as present and past course listings in order to determine when a course will next likely be available. Academic Services should develop a Web program or page that would allow students to drag classes they are considering into hypothetical schedules, and to then be able to see what majors, minors and Brandeis requirements they meet.
The Study Abroad office needs to modernize and offer online copies of program evaluations for students to complete when they return from abroad. Currently, they are in inconvenient-to-access folders in the Study Abroad office and often hard to read because they are filled out by hand. Placing this form online and having students fill out a digital copy would help students making difficult decisions between multiple study abroad destinations have more accurate information that they can peruse at their leisure.
Of course, some credit must be given to recent improvements. Last year, course evaluations were handled online, much paper was conserved and the completion rate remained relatively high. Still, the University needs to be aggressive in its continued adoption of technology.
We should not view the accessibility granted by the Internet as a potential threat but as a huge opportunity waiting to be explored and developed upon.
Looking toward academics, we see similar problems. For many students, choosing majors and planning schedules is a daunting task. Currently, students have to reference several resources, including handbooks, as well as present and past course listings in order to determine when a course will next likely be available. Academic Services should develop a Web program or page that would allow students to drag classes they are considering into hypothetical schedules, and to then be able to see what majors, minors and Brandeis requirements they meet.
The Study Abroad office needs to modernize and offer online copies of program evaluations for students to complete when they return from abroad. Currently, they are in inconvenient-to-access folders in the Study Abroad office and often hard to read because they are filled out by hand. Placing this form online and having students fill out a digital copy would help students making difficult decisions between multiple study abroad destinations have more accurate information that they can peruse at their leisure.
Of course, some credit must be given to recent improvements. Last year, course evaluations were handled online, much paper was conserved and the completion rate remained relatively high. Still, the University needs to be aggressive in its continued adoption of technology.
We should not view the accessibility granted by the Internet as a potential threat but as a huge opportunity waiting to be explored and developed upon.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
With regard to LTS
posted 3/09/08 @ 1:16 AM EST
God forbid students actually *gasp* plan ahead and load some money on their Who-cards, knowing that they will be printing throughout the semester. Oh, but that would be responsible. (Continued…)
Post a Comment