8/20/19 – CAC AY2019-2020 Update

8/20/19 – CAC Academic Year 2019-2020 Update

In consultation with the Office of the Registrar and the Technology Advisory Committee (TAC), the Computing Accessible Classrooms (CAC) Pilot in UW1-010, UW1-020, and UW1-030 will be extended through Spring Quarter 2020. Beginning Fall 2019, there will be five laptops in each room available for those students who do not have access to technology.

Why this change?

In preparing these classrooms for Fall 2019, we discovered that the existing fleet cannot remain in place due to security requirements (i.e., inability to apply recent security patches) and hardware failures. In partnering with the ARC, we are able to temporarily continue this service through Spring 2020 by redeploying underutilized laptops in these classrooms. Historically there were 18 laptops in each room; there will now be five laptops in each room. Of note, past usage data indicates the use of laptops was lower than anticipated (3% of students consistently used these laptops and when looking at significant usage only 5 students used them for over 10 hours across all classes and all rooms).

What else might I consider?

If computers are needed for one or two class periods or lessons, the Registrar can reserve those days/times in a campus computer lab. Today, our largest classroom computer lab seats 36 students, so in some cases, students may need to double up (space permitting).

Another option is to indicate on your syllabus, or let students know when they need to bring a laptop to class. The Library offers laptop checkout for UWB students. There are 20 laptops in the fleet with the following software; these laptops are available on a first come, first served basis.

As a reminder, a wide variety of software packages are available for free (e.g. SPSS, Matlab) or at significantly reduced cost to students via UWare for their personal devices.

What happens after Spring 2020?

Over this next year, we will be engaging ASUWB and student groups to understand their needs and use of technology so that we can identify ways to best support their curricular and co-curricular success, as well as working to provide better tech information for students (e.g., computer requirements, awareness of UWare Software). These conversations (as well as laptop use data) will help inform next steps as we look at more sustainable solutions. If low use of the five laptops continues, we will remove them after Spring 2020.

If you have any questions, please contact Adri MacArhur (sanchea2@uw.edu).