Asus Eee Pad Transformer

There’s been a lot of fuss about Tablet computers over the last couple of years. It’s hard to believe that it’s not even two years since Apple has launched the iPad and they have already sold millions of units, 25 million in the last two quarters alone (up to July 2011). Lets also not forget the Android tablets that are out there and trying their hardest to catch up and gain a big slice of that market share and then we still have the Windows 8 Tablet to surface sometime this year.

At Birmingham City University we will be deploying around a number of iPads to students on two courses at the faculty of Technology, engineering and environment early this year. This is a pilot scheme following up on an iPhone pilot project which took place during the previous academic year. There’s are whispers (there are always whispers) about the possibility of a future programme to give students a personal Laptop PC or device when they join the University. I don’t know if there is any truth in that rumour but it brings up an interesting argument, Tablet PC or Laptop/netbook? Surely that depends on the profile of the student as to what their needs are?

In Corporate ICT at Birmingham City University we are looking at “Communities of practice”; basically, that’s who uses what for what [for computing]. We now believe that around 59% of our students and Staff don’t generally use Computers for more that regular office tasks. Mostly word processing, then spread sheets and the PowerPoint type presentations. There are of course many Students and Staff that need specialised software and hardware which is an integral part of the delivery of their courses, for example dedicated audio recording software, graphic design tool, networking simulation tools and software development tools to name but a few. Not usually something that you can carry around in your pocket.

There’s an implication here regarding what type of computing we offer students. In a time when costs are more critical that ever before. Supporting a large fleet of PC’s across multiple sites at a University is a complicated and expensive task. Modern PC’s are “greener” that ever before but the still have a large overheads in power consumption and in maintenance and then there’s the regular replacement cost which often lead in to the hundreds of thousands of pounds every year. (remember also that PC’s are now seen as consumables, not capital investment).

So the question is; How do we reduce these costs and while moving forward with new technologies and still offer a high level of support to Students and Staff?

One answer seems to be for certain communities of practice to move to a more personal and portable solution(s). Do we give the students and maybe Staff a personal device? Do we move to a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure type infrastructure and re-use old desktop fleet and thin clients? Or, and most likely, do we need a hybrid of many solutions and if so, how does an IT department manage such a diverse computing environment while still offering a high standard of support?

The reality is that we are slowly but steadily moving to an environment where Students and Staff are already bringing there own devices to the University, whether that device be laptops, smart phones or tablet computers. In many ways the preparation for a move to more portable computing environment is already under way. Whether it’s realised or not, many Servicedesk and first line support operatives are already becoming to accustomed to working with a plethora of different devices and operating systems as so many different devices are now being used on campus. Simply walking past the Library on our City North campus you can see through the windows that the majority of Students are working with their own laptops and tablets, in fact I was surprised as to how many Student I saw using there own equipment. At a quick count as i walked past I estimated that it was over 60% (in fact walking past a couple of days ago every student I saw had a computer of some sort in fort of them – and that doesn’t include their smart phone’s).

So, should we move towards the hybrid solution I mentioned above? I think that in many respects we already are. The paradigm is already shifting from rooms full of PC’s to Students (and Staff) wanting to be able to work any where and anytime. The change is moving slowly at the moment but it is moving and I can’t see it shifting back the other direction.

OK, if we do change the way deliver computing to Students and Staff and if we were to Distribute portable devices to Students, which would be the best solution for this portable device? (I realise that there are many factors that I’m not mentioning here, cost, insurance, who owns the device? re-training of staff to support these new tools and methods of working etc. I’ll save that for another day though).

I’ve been using an iPad tablet computer for while now, I also have an laptop computer. Generally though I carry the iPad everywhere. It’s become a powerful personal assistant.

What? It’s not a Toy???? No, no, it’s not.

Lets look at the basics; I use it for email, calendar, opening and sharing documents in meetings (with no “wall” created like a open laptop when sharing info or taking notes). I take all my notes with it, which some times includes photos and audio clips, I access our SharePoint team sites which I can review and edit documents. We have also introduced video conferencing to, the iPad is a fantastic communications tool. It’s a powerful research tool, very useful in a meeting or lecture. Its a great media receiver and an excellent note taker. Can it be used to write essays or longer document though? I think it can. Most of the Blogs I’ve posted on this site have been from an iPad or even an iPhone. If you want to have a full keyboard experience it’s quite easy and relatively cheap to purchase a Bluetooth keyboard for the iPad too. There’s also the device that I have pictured above. The Asus EeePad transformer, it looks like a laptop but the screen is able to un-dock from the base and become a fully fledged table PC. I have to admit I quite enjoyed this device while I had the chance to test it. It was nice to have the choice between the two form factors and it has the added advantage that the keyboard/base has an addition power supply which lets you work that little bit longer while away from a power supply.

I wasn’t ready to give up my iPad yet but this device was pretty close to swaying me.

In conclusion, I think that things are changing, that it’s becoming pretty obvious that Students and staff are already working in new ways and we, in IT need to adapt quickly to that need. I believe that computing at the University will inevitably become more mobile whether it’s IT who supply those device or whether they are brought by the Users themselves or a combination of both.

We are already seeing more Tablet and laptop devices used by Students. They bring them to Uni with them to use on site, It unshackles them designated computing labs and allows them to work with out locational and time constraints and If we provide the right environments they could touchdown and work anywhere on campus, and when they are done here they can take their device and continue to work with it at home or even while traveling there on the bus.

And then there’s windows 8. If it proves to be a winner and Microsoft make the right partnerships with the right hardware manufacturers (Nokia, HTC?), we could see a tablet computer running a version of Windows 8 using the Metro Interface which would be able to run many familiar applications such as Word, PowerPoint and Excel.

That could be a game changer.