The Impact of Technology at

Background

The College of Business has always tried to implement new technology into the

classroom. As a result, new applications and multimedia has been purchased to enhance the learning environment of

students. The implementation of this is carried out through the Computer

Application Learning Center.

Past

Computer Systems

• 2 Labs (50 computers) consisting of Windows 95

• 1 Lab (20) computers running DOS

• 2 Gb Hardrives

• File server access to applications due to low amount of storage on PCs

Past cont.

Printers• Dot Matrix Printers

NT Servers• PDC • BDC• Print Server• Application Server

Multimedia

• 4 roll-out carts with multimedia use

Past cont.

• SoftwareDatabases

Microsoft Access 7.0 Compilers

Microsoft Visual C++ Microsoft Visual J++ Microsoft Visual Basic • Internet Applications Netscape Communicator TelnetWindows FTP

•Others PowerPoint 7.0SPSS for Windows 7.5Micro Manager 2.Oracle (Pending)•Accounting & Finance Peach Tree Accounting 4.0•Word Processing Microsoft Word 7.0•Spreadsheet Applications Microsoft Excel 7.0

Present

Because computers are a necessary entity in today’s business world, the College of Business has designated the necessary funds to provide students with the technology required for advancement. These funds have been allocated into providing more software, better computing systems, and more multimedia for teaching purposes.

Computer SystemsLabs 1 & 2

• 70 Student Workstations Desktop Pentium III 450 MHz Memory: 64 & 128 MB 

Monitor: Dell M770 17" Hard Drive: 10 GbOS: Win NT4 CD-Rom Drive: 40xZip Drive:  100MB

Lab 3

• 26  Student Workstations           

Processor:   600MHz                      Monitor: Dell M770 17" Hard Drive: 20 GbOS: Windows 2000 CD-Rom Drive: 40xZip Drive: Iomega Zip 100MBMemory 128 MB

Student Multimedia Classroom

Dell GX1p/T+ MiniTower:

Pentium III 450Mhz Processor Memory: 128MB Ram Monitor: 17" Dell M770 Hard Drive: 13.6 GB Operating System: Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Workstation with CD media using Fat16 Cd ROM Drive: 17/40x CD-ROM Zip Drive: Iomega Zip 250MB Internal Drive Printer: HP Laserjet 8000N

Multimedia Classrooms

• These classrooms provide professors with a Pentium III & Pentium IV 450 MHz computer, 19" Monitor, 20 - 30 Gb Hard drive, Windows 98, NT, 2000 OS, DVD Rom drive, 250Mb zip drive, and a Videocassette player

• These classrooms are also equipped with a Sharp 1400 lumens projector that is mounted on the ceiling.  These projectors are operated remotely from the Professors' Nova Desk.  Nova desks are specially designed for computer and multimedia equipment.

Software

DatabasesOracle 8iMS Access 2000

Accounting & FinancePeachtreeMS Great DynamicsMS Excel 2000

Word ProcessingMS Word 2000

InternetNetscape 6.0Internet Explorer 5.0FTP

Compilers Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 Microsoft Visual J++ 6.0 Merant Net Express

Statistics Storm Management Scientinst Arena Other MS Powerpoint 2000 Eviews Micro Manager SPSS 10.0 MS Frontpage 2000 WinZip 8.0

Servers

• New PowerEdge Dell Server  6300 system with 1000 Mb of memory, 3 x 36 Gb hard drives.  Presently running as an application server and as an Oracle 8i enterprise server.

• PDC & BCD both running Windows 2000 Advanced Server

• Net Express Server

• Cold Fussion Server

• 2 Web Servers

• 2 Print Servers

Cabling

All the cabling at the calc lab was replaced with category 5 cables which increase the bandwidth of our local area network from 10 MHz to 100 MHz.

Future

With the ever changing technology, the College of Business must begin to prepare. The following are points that I believe must be covered when evaluating future growth.

Software

Upgrading should always be high on the list so that current applications do not become obsolete. Possible software to be upgraded in the near future includes: Office XP Internet Applications Web Development Applications

Computing Systems

• Operating Systems

For security reasons, all PCs should be running on a Windows 2000 Professional environment so long as all applications are supported and as long as the hardware requirements are met.

Multimedia Classroms

• Student Use

The idea of creating a new multimedia classroom should be considered given that professors prefer teaching students on a hands-on approach

• Professor’s Use

All classrooms should be equipped with multimedia so that the roll-out equipment becomes obsolete.

Servers

• Upgrading

Given that the PDC and BDC are running Windows 2000 Advanced Server, it would be ideal for all servers to be on the same platform . The possibility of adding hardware requirements may have to be considered.