On the main page of every student’s PAWS account is a short description of a Student Technology Fee survey. It is accessible through the student services portion of the page.
It really takes less than a minute to complete.
There are only about five questions to answer before the submit button is reached.
And with millions of dollars of student money on the line, there is no reason why any student should forgo the opportunity to let their voice be heard.
Until the end of the day Thursday, Student Government and the Student Technology Fee Committee is asking students to answer these survey questions about how often teachers use the multimedia equipment in the classroom. The survey also questions students about how useful this technology is in their learning experience.
We encourage all students to complete this survey. And before and after doing so, we also encourage students to think about how the University’s tech fee money can best be spent.
The Student Tech Fee is a student assessed fee of $75 per semester. The collection raises an estimated $4.5 million to be used on technology around campus. A third of the money collected now is spent on maintaining and expanding public computer labs. Academic programs and faculty spend another third on things such as design and photo equipment, statistics calculating software or various other special interest technology. Finally, the last third is dedicated to multimedia equipment in classrooms.
The Tech Fee Committee has designed the survey to evaluate how money is spent on this last fee dedication. Student Senate Speaker Michael Busada, who is also a Tech Fee Committee member, told The Reveille Tuesday he wanted to put the survey up to “gauge interest in expanding technology around campus.” Busada said in an e-mail to members of SG that he and others on the committee suggested the survey in response to proposal to increase the amount of money spent on classroom multimedia by a half a million dollars. Being only one proposal that involves so much money, Busada said he had concerns about the money being irresponsibly distributed if spent on technology that teachers would not use.
Busada should be commended for taking the first steps encouraging more student input on the way Tech Fee money is spent. Though others have done so in the past, few efforts have been as easy as a simple volunteer survey.
Students should appreciate this opportunity to have a hand in how such a large sum of student money is spent. In our opinion, a high response from the survey will not only give the fee committee a way to gauge what students wants, it also opens the door for students to begin influencing the committee’s decisions on how money is spent.
Maybe after Thursday a majority of students will be in favor of increasing multimedia technology in classrooms. We think this push increases students learning opportunities, especially those with learning disabilities or just lack of interest in a particular subject. Technology in classrooms often reinforces an audio lecture with visual stimulation. One example is when history professors incorporate pictures of monarchs or examples of architecture with their lectures. Having a computer with projectable Powerpoint and Internet capabilities also gives students a heads up in the increasingly digital age.
But maybe the majority of students think the money should be spent in other ways. Each is entitled to their own opinion. And like in any instance where money is spent, there always are trade-offs. A demand for more technology in the classroom means either higher fees or less money for other things like enhancing public computer labs.
Keeping trade offs in mind, we still feel the proposal to increase multimedia in the classrooms is an important one. If you agree and if you see the benefits of high-tech classrooms instead of dark rooms with nothing but a chalkboard and wooden desks, or even if you don’t, then get online and let your voice be heard.
Still, the PAWS survey can be seen as a reassurance to students that the Tech Fee Committee is willing to listen. We’d be willing to bet they would accept feedback about any other questions or concerns students have. In fact, we encourage students to do so by visiting the SG Web site at www.sg.lsu.edu.