- What is the
program?
The
program is the mobile computer initiative in the Vanderbilt
University School of Engineering (VUSE).
is an umbrella term
for all activities and resources of the VUSE students, faculty and
staff related to the use of mobile computers in the education of the
VUSE students.
is a networked community which provides:
- Transportable communications and computing: Online notebook computer
access 24/7, in class, in labs, in residence halls
- Instructional technology to help learn and master complex knowledge
and techniques more quickly -- in the labs, classrooms, and at home
- Integrated technology to connect students with project teams of other
students
- Interdisciplinary technologies drawn from several disciplines and
bodies of knowledge.
facilitates:
- In-class teamwork
- Student-faculty interactions
- Access to sophisticated computer environments and tools
- Immediate feedback from professors
- Active, hands-on classroom participation
- Vibrant learning environment
- Why does the VU School of Engineering have a mobile computer requirement?
The core mission of the School is to prepare its students to enter the
engineering professions. Much of the work done by the people in those
professions involves the use of computers and increasingly that work
is done "away from the desk". The intent of the VUSE mobile computer
requirement is to accustom the students to work in the ways they will
work after graduation by embedding this approach in our curriculum.
- Why is there a requirement to use Microsoft Windows?
Most of the software used by practicing engineers runs under the Microsoft
Windows family of operating systems and some of that software runs only
under Microsoft Windows.
To meet the intent of the
program computer requirements, it is
thus a requirement to be able to run applications designed to run on
Microsoft Windows and to be able to run them as though they are running
*on* Microsoft Windows.
There may be ways of accomplishing this
requirement without using
Microsoft Windows as the operating system, but limitations on support
resources mean that the School can offer little, if any, support for
such configurations.
- What is needed to meet the mobile computer requirement?
- Hardware - a computer that
- is reliable enough to use daily in several classes each week day
(or one with a good service plan)
- can communicate on an IEEE 802.11g wireless data network -
all VUSE classrooms and most of the common spaces in the VUSE
buildings are covered by such networks
- can operate for at least 75 minutes on battery power - 75min
is the length of *one* class on Tuesday or Thursday and a
student may have several classes in a row so a longer battery
operating plan is very desirable
- is adequately "powerful" to handle the tasks done in a VUSE
classroom where "power" is a complex product of processor
speed, primary memory speed and size, and secondary memory
(typically rotating disk) speed and size
- has adequate graphical capabilites - many engineering disciplines
lean heavily on visualization both for problem characterization
and for problem solving so display resolution and display speed
can greatly impact the usefulness of a computer for
- Software
- Microsoft Windows XP Professional or Vista Business
- Microsoft Office 2003 or 2007 *for* Microsoft Windows
- What are the minimum recommendations for a computer for
?
Please note that the specifications below are recommended minimums.
- Hardware
- Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo or equivalent at 2.0GHz
- Primary Memory: 2GB RAM
- Secondary Memory: 80GB disk, 5400RPM
- Optical Drive: CD/DVD +/- R/RW (rewriteable)
- Wired Networking: IEEE 802.3 100BASE-T "Fast Ethernet"
- Wireless Networking: IEEE 802.11g compatible wireless
- Graphics Processor: (Intel X3100 or MHD4500 or equiv)
- Graphics Display: WXGA (either 1200x800 or 1366x768)
- three-year "in-home" limited warranty
- three-year accidental damage coverage
- Software
- Microsoft Windows Vista Business SP1
- Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student Edition (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
- Anti-Virus
Software
- Anti-Spyware
Software
- Where can I get what I need for
?
General Information