Wireless computer system
aims to connect students
By Kim Peiffer
Staff
Writer
The associate dean of research and development
in the School of Education has developed a wireless computer system
that he said will make classes better for teachers and students.
Richard Lesh, with the help of a group of students
taking a class called Engineering Projects in Community Service, is
developing a project that will enable classrooms to have online access
through wireless computer carts that can be wheeled right into the classroom.
Rooms without computer equipment can be hooked
up to computers in a matter of minutes using a cart stocked with the
desired number of wireless laptops, a large projection screen, cameras
and microphones.
"What we want is an environment where people
interact with people," said Lesh. "We want teachers who don’t
teach in interesting ways to teach in interesting ways."
Not only will this enable teachers to teach in
more interesting ways by giving them access to the Internet, but it
helps out students by giving them a chance to interact with students
all over the world without moving. Students are able to communicate
with anyone using video conferencing, which uses digital video screens
to make it possible to see the person you are talking to.
Recently, Lesh was teaching a class for graduate
students using this system, which involved talking to different people
from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Seattle, Mexico
and Australia while watching them online at the same time. "We
want this to be a window instead of a wall," Lesh said.
Lesh and his team have been working on this project
for almost two years, but it most likely will not be finished until
the end of this semester.
Because this project demands so much financial
aid due to the advanced technology that these computers provide, many
companies have provided funding to make this all possible. Intel provided
the wireless computers at no cost, and other companies like AT&T
have provided financial funding due to written proposals sent out by
Lesh in the early stages of the project. Lesh himself has also provided
funding.
"I don’t mind putting in my own money
as well, because I have no doubts that this project will be a huge success,"
he said.
Lesh has had a lot of experience developing and
testing new things ever since he completed graduate school at Indiana
University. He worked at Northwestern University for six years developing
IBM software, and he has also worked on developing alternative-testing
processes in the past as well. He has been at Purdue for the past three
years.
As for Lesh’s team of students, most of the
members have been involved in this project since the spring of 2000.
Todd Isaacs, a junior in the Schools of Engineering
and one of those members, said, "Our team’s project will create
a mobile computing laboratory that will allow educators to implement
advanced technology in an ‘untethered’ environment."
He says that they are planning on finalizing all
designs, therefore having a prototype available for teachers at the
beginning of next semester.
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