Tail Wags Dog

Proof the Regents Don't Read the New York Times:

Wednesday's Mitchell Daily Republic reports that "the South Dakota Board of Regents is considering converting all six of the state's public college campuses to 'laptop-tablet environments'" (Korrie Wenzel, "Regents Consider Laptop Plan for All Public College Campuses," Mitchell Daily Republic, online, May 9, 2007). Madison's Dakota State University, the state's flagship computer integration campus, went this route in 2004, requiring all students to lease a laptop and integrating their use into every class.

The main motivation for requiring students to purchase laptops system-wide seems to be the governor's push for integration of laptops into the K-12 system. As Regents executive director Tad Perry explains it, the Regents "stumbled across" (not the most inspiring language from our educational leaders) the problem of student teachers going through their pedagogical training without sufficient experience with laptops to work well with the technology they encounter in their field assignments.

That's all? One subset of our graduates with one specific technological need encountered at a minority of South Dakota schools, one educational tool that some schools nationwide are abandoning, and the Regents consider implementing a significant cost increase and technological requirement for every student in the state public college system? Evidently the Regents read neither the New York Times nor this blog.

I don't mind integrating computer technology into the classroom, if it's done for the right reasons. But with the Regents regularly increasing tuition and fees outpacing inflation (6.3% for AY 2007-2008, with the average SD public university student paying $346 more next year) and certainly outpacing the rate at which teacher salaries are increasing in the state (we're getting under 3% at Montrose), how are students supposed to keep up? Do we really want to price more kids out of university education by requiring them to spend another thousand dollars on technology? Granted, a lot of kids get nw computers as they head to college anyway, but I'd liek to leave that choice in the hands of the students. And even if they buy their own computers, why not let them decide how and when they want to use that machine on campus? Some people might not want to lug a computer around in their backpacks all day long. There are still many great classes where students will learn best just by listening to and interacting with their professors, not transcribing everything the teacher says on their keyboards and downloading multimedia presentations (not to mention sneaking peeks at their e-mails and their next Free Cell moves).

One side note on this issue: mandating laptops for students on every campus could rouse some political snarkiness between the Regents and DSU. The MDR article notes that systemwide laptop integration could cause DSU to lose its unique position as the laptop campus. Perry says, "That's an interesting point" -- again, as if he hadn't thought of this before? Ah, but check out these comments:

“I had that conversation (recently) at Dakota State during a campus visit. Their concern is that they will lose their distinctiveness,” Perry said.

But Perry said he thinks Dakota State will be fine because “it has to be on the front edge of technology. Its challenge will be to be the model of where we are. They will always be a step ahead, or they should be, if they’re doing their mission.”

Or they should be...? Far be it from me to read too deeply, but do I detect just a whiff of accusation there? Is the executive director of the university system's governing body even permitting the contemplation of the suggestion that one of his schools is not carrying out its mission? If I'm the Board of Regents, I don't let even a hint of that idea sneak into my public statements. In response to a reporter's question, I say, "DSU will always be a step ahead -- period" with no ifs or other qualifiers. DSU could use just a little more love from the higher-ups.