I second Nick's concern. There aren't many people on campus more 
pro-technology than I am. But I also believe in applying where it is 
most appropriate. If it were appropriate for archaeology students to 
have laptops in the field, I know Nick would have been one of the first 
to use it! And as far as GPS and GIS goes, I was helping Nick figure out 
how to get some GPS data off a 5 1/4" floppy a couple years ago. He's 
been pushing that edge as far as possible.

The fact of the matter is: so much of the undergraduate educational 
experience can and should take place on paper - either written or read. 
In upper-level courses in most fields, it becomes more appropriate to 
introduce automated methods. But even in GIS, you need to learn the 
basics of cartography and spatial analysis before you should be turned 
loose on the computer. Otherwise, you end up with output that looks like 
a 2-year-old was banging on the keyboard in Word.

Oh, and as far as the ESRI license is concerned: we can get a license 
that will cover 100% of university owned computers. Right now we can 
install it on as many computers as we want as long as they can talk to 
the license server via the network - and we can have about 100 users in 
the software simultaneously at each license level - ArcInfo, ArcView and 
ArcEditor. We don't differentiate the license levels yet because we 
don't need to. We can also install on a good number of laptops that 
don't talk to the license server. Additionally, ESRI offers a $100/year 
student license that gives them a license for the current version of 
ArcEditor for one year. They do not extend the University license to 
student owned computers at any price.

-Eric



Nick Honerkamp wrote:
> Yes, GIS, a truly wonderful tool--in the field. Unfortunately, the majority
> of my classes are in a classroom, not at an archaeological site, or in my
> lab. What I want to know is: how do students multitasking on their laptops
> in my class actually benefit from bringing those required laptops TO THE
> CLASS. Is ESRI going to lease a copy of ARCHVIEW to all laptop owners at
> UTC, so we can all happily GIS together? I doubt it. That leaves me with a
> digital podium, if I can get a classroom that has one.
> 
> The laptop backlash article is very sobering. I've yet to read anything in
> comments posted so far that lists specific classroom benefits that outweigh
> the very real drawbacks found in that article.
> 
> I'm not a Laptop Luddite--I've owned one for years and love it. I simply
> want to see some evidence that this proposed universal requirement has
> pedagogical value in a classroom setting.
> 
> Nick Honerkamp 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: UTC Staff E-Mail List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of C
> Daniel Chase
> Sent: Wednesday, October 26, 2005 11:44 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [UTCSTAFF] Laptop Backlash
> 
> Eric B. Wolf wrote:
> ...
> 
>>Seriously though, I would suspect that a higher level of comfort and 
>>familiarity with technology would benefit students in all fields of 
>>study. Laptops (or mobile devices) are especially helpful for Archaelogy 
>>and Anthropology. One of the reasons computer technology doesn't seem to 
>>apply to your field is that it's been too difficult to drag a computer 
>>out their with you. Students coming into the university now have never 
>>known a world without computers and the internet. These are natural 
>>tools to them.
> 
> ...
> 
> Eric! I can't believe *you* didn't mention the most obvious use (to me) 
> of technology in Archeology & Anthropology fieldwork... GIS! Geographic 
> Information Systems would be perfect for logging location of artifacts 
> and integrating with other related data. Mapping, as well as other GIS 
> driven data sources.
> 
> My turn to be GIS Evangelist I guess... :-)
> 
> -Dan
>