Connie Schmidt

cschmidt@mtsu.edu

Connie Schmidt

ITSC

N/A

LRC 241 (21st Century Classroom), LRC 101 (IMR Computer Center), and LRC 101B (Pentium Lab B)

Replacement of Existing Technology

The DataWorks Pentium I computers we would like to replace are three years old. They are continuously offline due to age- and use-associated breakdowns. The most recent software versions (Windows 2000 and Office 2000) stretch their memory capacity and operating speed. The scanners we wish to replace are also old and, more importantly, are incompatible with the Windows 2000 operating system. The printers we wish to replace (3 HP LaserJet 5M printers and 1 Apple Laserwriter printer) are four years old, require constant maintenance, and are too slow to keep up with current student printing volume. The multiple equipment carts we wish to replace with a Nova Desk are awkward for instructors, use space inefficiently in a very crowded classroom, and present a safety hazard due to dangling power and connecting cords.

The Instructional Technology Support Center provides students with University-wide access to 101 Pentium and Macintosh computers in the Instructional Media Resources (IMR) Computer Center, two computer labs, a 21st century classroom, and the graduate student multimedia center. The IMR Computer Center is open 72 hours per week for walk-in use by students. Faculty across campus install departmentally-purchased software on IMR computers for student use. Open lab times are scheduled in the two Pentium labs up to 50 hours per week. Any faculty member may schedule class technology training sessions in the labs. Eight-six such sessions were scheduled during 1999-2000, benefiting approximately 2000 students. Student visits to the IMR Computer Center and the labs during the first 10 months of 2000 totaled 19,612. The College of Education schedules 57 regular classes with an enrollment of 1368 in the labs and the 21st century classroom. In August 2000 we upgraded to Windows 2000 on all our Pentiums. This upgrade has been problematic for the oldest computers in the center. Four student computers in the 21st century classroom are Pentium I computers that are too slow to handle the new operating system and crash frequently. We request funds to replace them with Pentium III computers. We would also like to purchase a Nova desk to consolidate the instructor computers and peripherals currently on multiple equipment carts in the classroom. The carts make teaching difficult in an extremely crowded classroom. We also request funds to: (1) replace the three scanners in our labs (1 in Pentium Lab B, 2 in the IMR Computer Center) that are not compatible with Windows 2000; and (2) replace the four oldest printers in our labs (1 in Pentium Lab B, 3 in the IMR Computer Center), because they require constant maintenance and cannot handle student printing volume.