Hard News Print: Technology at VCSU

By Kayley Erlandson

Valley City State University supplies every student and faculty member with their own personal laptop, provides help with maintenance issues, and keeps current programs on the computer.  The fact that the campus offers laptops to students has been a selling point for many prospective high-school senior since the first year that laptops were brought to the campus in 1997.  But do the computers also have negative effects on the students? Does this seemingly endless research help students or hinder socialization and participation in class?

“I really think that they (the computers) are useful,” said Kendra Krueger, President of Student Senate, “but some students don’t use the technology available to the best use possible, leaving teachers upset and discouraged with the discussion in class.” 

Many other students will be the first to tell someone that social networking is a more common occurrence in class than notetaking. “People either IM (instant message) or Facebook when the teachers are trying to talk,” said Liana Hansen, a freshman at VCSU.

Along with the computers acting as a distraction in the classroom, the knowledge required to utilize a current computer can be daunting for incoming freshmen and transfer students

“At my other school, nobody had laptops,” said Loni Sallee, a transfer student, “when I came here, I didn’t realize how big of a role computers played.  The transition was hard for me. You go from not knowing anything at all, to being expected to be great at it. When I first met my roommate, she and her friends were sitting in the same room, sitting next to each other and chatting on MSN.  I thought it was weird at first, but now we (my friends and I) do it.”

“It’s kind of rude in a way,” said Amanda Metz, a freshman at VCSU, “you’re not giving attention to the people you’re with.”

Despite the distractions of the technology available on the Valley City campus, almost every student can give the computers some merit. “With the communication on campus, computers allow for timely communication and easy access to people’s opinions on discussion boards,” said Krueger, “I really think they (the computers) are useful.”

Getting in contact with faculty members, such as Erin Klingenberg, the Director of Counseling & Human Resources at Valley City State University, is easier for students. Klingenberg contributes almost all of her counseling appointments to the available technology.  “90% of my appointments are made over e-mail,” said Klingenberg, “When a student sends an e-mail, they just think “I’ll hit ‘send’ and it’ll be done.”

As for computers contributing to social and physical problems on campus; “I don’t think computers are the root of the problem,” said Klingenberg, “They might contribute, but they’re not the root cause.”

 “It depends on how you look at it,” said Christine Litt, a senior, “Socially, people depend on them (computers).  Academically, people use them.  But one thing that they (employers) like in VCSU graduates, is that we are very knowledgeable about technology.”