Faculty Laptops: Boon or Bane?

Wireless laptops were provided to faculty in a College of Education. This study examined the impact of this technology on the professional practice of the faculty (teaching, research, and service) and specifically on the use of the technology in support of instruction for preservice teachers and graduate students. Widespread adoption and use has followed the initial transition to this mobile technology. ********** In the fall of 2001, many of the desktop computers used by faculty were nearing the end of their life expectancy and needed to be upgraded or replaced. At the same time, the university was investing heavily in a wireless network and was promoting the adoption of wireless laptop computers to make use of this new network. Simply stated, the deal was too good to refuse and the administration of the College of Education decided to offer faculty the option of replacing their aging desktop computers with the new wireless laptops. A total of 71 wireless laptops were distributed in November 2001. Many faculty members willingly returned their older computers but many also decided to keep the older computer nearby as they made the transition to the laptop. Support staff from the university visited each faculty member and assisted with the configuration of the laptop, the transfer of data files, and the installation of licensed software applications. RESEARCH QUESTIONS There were two concerns driving this research study. The first was the impact of this mobile, wireless computing capability on the professional practice of the faculty that chose to adopt the new technology. Specifically, did the technology make a difference to teaching practices, research activities or service activities--the three areas directly related to retention, promotion and tenure at the institution? The second concern was related to the lease agreement for the laptop computers. The three-year term would be up in September, 2004 and information was needed to guide the decision whether or not to replace the "old" laptops with the newest model and renew the lease agreement, or consider a different option. A survey was developed to address these parallel concerns (see Appendix A). RESEARCH METHODS In February, 2003, the 2-page survey was hand-delivered to all full-time faculty as they entered the room to attend a college-wide meeting. Completed surveys were collected as faculty exited the meeting. Members were required to sign-in at the meeting for voting purposes so there was a record of who attended. During the following week, the members of the college technology committee distributed and collected surveys from members of their particular department who had not attended the meeting. The surveys were anonymous unless the faculty member agreed to participate in a follow-up interview and provided contact information on the last question of the survey. A total of 46 valid surveys were returned providing a 65% response rate. Of these 46 surveys, 32 faculty members agreed to a follow-up interview. The survey responses were entered into SPSS for analysis. The first analysis considered all responses on all surveys. The second analysis considered only the responses from the 39 faculty who indicated that they had received an IBM wireless laptop computer. A stratified sample consisting of 16 faculty members from different departments and discipline areas of this population was contacted for a follow-up interview. At the time of this writing approximately half of the volunteers had been interviewed and consequently the anecdotal findings are not complete. STUDY FINDINGS The initial survey questions addressed user perceptions of the wireless laptop initiative and also provided a mechanism for sorting respondents. When all 46 surveys were tabulated, 64% of the respondents stated that a laptop computer was their primary computer system. This population also stated that they were able to access the wireless network (97%), and similarly 97% considered the laptop initiative to be a positive success or a resounding success. …