Title:	CLOSED LABS IN THE COMPUTER SCIENCE CURRICULUM – MOBILE WIRELESS VS. CLASSIC DESKTOP BASED
Author(s):	Mikhail S. Brikman , Edward J. Wilkens
ISBN:	972-8924-15-1
Editors:	Pedro Isaías, Piet Kommers and Inmaculada Arnedillo Sánchez
Year:	2006
Edition:	Single
Keywords:	Mobile learning, closed labs, Computer Science.
Type:	Full Paper
First Page:	49
Last Page:	56
Language:	English
Cover:
Full Contents:	click to dowload
Paper Abstract:	The paper describes and compares two approaches to the presentation of closed labs for Computer Science majors - usage of either mobile laptop computers or stationary ones. The Computer Science Department at Salem State College, Salem, MA modified the Computer Science major curriculum in 2001 to add closed labs to all appropriate Computer Science major and minor courses (more then sixty percent of the total number of courses taught). One of the consequences of this decision was the need to conduct several simultaneous closed and open labs. At that time our stationary (desktop based) laboratory infrastructure could support only about one quarter of the required closed lab sections. Due to the absence of rooms to host additional stationary laboratory, our only solution was to acquire a laptop based mobile lab to satisfy the increased computer hardware and lab space requirements. At the present time, thanks to the expansion of the department’s laboratory space we returned to the stationary closed lab environment based on both wired and wireless computer setup. We describe the steps taken to implement both approaches and present an analysis of the results and the problems encountered during the three-year usage of these two competing teaching environments.
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