Technology, computers, and labs

Getting right down to business today, I thought I should discuss technology across campus (mostly because I’m sitting in a computer lab at the moment). I may or may not have covered this topic previously, but at this moment I’m not feeling the urge to sift through a year and a half of posts to find out for sure. As far as access to technology on campus goes, GVSU is certainly not lacking. There are multiple computer labs across campus, with two large facilities in Henry Hall and Manitou Hall, as well as a facility in Lake Ontario Hall that houses both Mac and PC labs, and a myriad of other, smaller locations. For example, there is an entire row of classrooms on the second floor of Mackinac Hall devoted to small computer labs, and, in the same building, we have the Modern Language Center, a large, three room lab for students with foreign language classes. There are also labs on the downtown campus, with at least six rooms of computers, and a mixture of operating systems. The hours aren’t half bad, either; Henry Hall, for instance, is open until 1:00 AM weekdays during the fall/winter semester, and while the other labs still have great hours, they’re not quite as convenient as Henry is.

All that being said, though, I do kind of encourage a student to buy their own computer. It is most definitely not a necessity here at Grand Valley; any student could easily survive off of GVSU resources. But I would definitely call it a convenience, and while it’s not required of students at GVSU, I would say that (in my opinion) it is becoming a norm for Americans to own a personal computer beyond college. Again, and I can’t stress this enough, you are not required to purchase your own computer to attend class at Grand Valley State University, I just think that it’s helpful to have one. But I do really discourage most incoming student from buying a printer right away, because printing is free for students on campus. No lab fee, no charge for paper or ink, no page limit, all you need is your GVSU login.

If you do buy a computer, understand that we have no requirement in terms of operating system. So whichever side you identify with on those “I’m a PC, I’m a Mac” commercials, just choose whatever you’re most comfortable with. Laptops are helpful, since all of the classroom structures are wireless, but they aren’t a requirement, and each instructor can choose to or choose not to allow laptops in class at their own discretion. But all of the academic centers have wireless internet, so it is possible to access the internet from any given classroom. A majority of housing has wireless internet, but not 100%. All of the living centers, however, do have Ethernet outlets, so every room has internet access, it’s just not always wireless.


Well, that's about it for today, but as usual, post any questions you have.

-Kyle