As a part of the UT-wide policy to increase the use of notebooks in education, students are provided with a lucrative arrangement to purchase their own laptops.
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| Notebook Service Centre in the Hoogkamp building. (Foto: Gijs van Ouwerkerk) |
`The Notebook Project was first started in 2002 with only 60 students benefiting from it, and in the last 6 years the number of students making use of the arrangement has risen substantially. Currently more than 3,000 students have received their laptops through this unique project. By next year, the number is expected to shoot up to 5,000 students,' says Mr. Bezemer, process coordinator of the Information and Communication Department (ICT).
The project aims to provide students with the choice to purchase one out of two computer models offered at a competitive price. The higher-end model comes equipped with better specifications, whereas the lower-end model is more affordable. In addition, both models come with optional extras, which the student can choose to customize their laptop's configurations, according to their own personal needs.
The laptops are offered with a three-year guarantee, and in the event of hardware or software problems, students can bring their laptop to the service desk of the Notebook Service Centre (Horst building, W130), and they are guaranteed to get the problem sorted in one hour, completely free of charge. If the problem cannot be rectified in one hour, the student is provided with a replacement notebook. Students are also provided with an interest-free loan to finance their laptop purchase. In 2007, more than 40% of the students took advantage of this interest-free loan system.
The selection of the models offered to students is chosen after extensive discussions with study groups and various departments. Tests are conducted to ensure that the hardware is robust enough to be able to keep pace with the rigors of student life. The battery life and portability features are carefully selected so that the notebooks are suitable for a student who is constantly on the move. Yet care is taken to provide software that can support the various programs that are commonly used by students. In 2007, Dell Latitude and Dell Inspire notebooks were selected as the high-end and low-end models respectively.
“The Information and Communication Technology department (ICT), which runs this project, also provides infrastructural facilities to help students make optimum use of their laptops,' informs Mr. Bezemer. Every student in the TNW and CTW faculty are provided with individual lockers to store their laptops and each locker has an electrical socket to enable students to charge their laptop while it is being stored. Currently, it is obligatory for all Bachelor's and Master's Students in the TNW and CTW faculty to have their own notebooks. The ICT is trying to persuade other faculties to also make it compulsory for their students to have personal laptops. All the programs, which are commonly used by students for their study purpose, can be downloaded free-of-charge using the wireless network of the university. In addition, there are a few points where the software can be downloaded even faster, using the high-speed wired networks.
The ICT stresses the importance to prevent repetitive stress injury (RSI), which is quite common among those who extensively use laptops. Hence they provide special stands and keyboards, at no extra price, to the students who purchase laptops through the ICT.
For the past 6 years, a letter was sent, in the beginning of July, to all prospective students, providing information about the Notebook Project. If interested in the arrangement, students could register themselves before the end of October, and the laptop would be delivered for free to their address within the Netherlands. However, sometimes students, especially international students, missed out on the opportunity when they joined the courses after October. To solve this issue, measures are now being taken to allow students to register for a new laptop anytime during the academic year. At the end of the year, a questionnaire will be sent out to all students to obtain feedback on the project. This will allow the ICT department to further improve the level of service provided to the student community.
A student has a limited budget. Yet it is vital that they do not miss out on the technology currently available in the market to make learning an enjoyable experience. The ICT department at UT is committed to help all University of Twente students, irrespective of their budget, to realize this very dream. For more information visit this website: www.nsc.utwente.nl (available in Dutch language only).
