More Mobile on Campus

EduCause is the international professional association for IT in higher education. The focus of the latest edition of the Educause Quarterly is on mobile computing and its impact(s) on colleges: http://educause.informz.net/educause/archives/archive_1404284.html

We expect a growing demand for mobile support in every area, from our applications to our infrastructure.

Three steps we have taken recently to address these demands are:

• Our switch to Gmail for students, which has very strong support for a wide range of mobile devices;
• Doubling of campus bandwidth (not without remaining issues) to better support the growing number of mobile devices and their "always on" nature;
• Expansion of our wireless network coverage to all floors in the Circle and Crescent houses this summer. (The 5th Form houses were done last summer. All Houses have had wireless on the first floor common areas for several years, as have all floors in academic buildings.)

As one of the authors writes, "Individuals have had access to 'portable learning devices' since the advent of the printing press; we call them books." But there are many who believe that the growing power and ubiquity of network-enabled smartphones will probably bring the greatest technological changes since the general availability of the Internet - if we use them correctly, not just as content delivery devices. As others have said, "this changes everything." How will it change Lawrenceville?