|
In a comparison of
system, the University of Michigan-Flint and Carman-Ainsworth have just as
many similarities as differences. A
major difference is that Carman-Ainsworth has no student log-in. This makes it difficult to track individual
computer use or abuse. An important part of computer use, I feel is
responsibility. The act of logging-in
and remembering your user name and password are important factors in using a
computer system in college and the workplace, and these things should be used
in all schools and networked systems. The networking is also
different, Carman-Ainsworth is using Novell, whereas UM-Flint has just
upgraded to Windows XP. System
requirements change depending on the application, so it is necessary to have
multiple labs and networks designed for specific purposes. The University has
8 drives from which information is stored and accessed. Students at the University of
Michigan-Flint have a personal drive which can hold up to 50Mb of data and
can be accessed from anywhere on the internet. This is a feature Carman-Ainsworth does not
have. They do have 6 mapped drives
that support differing areas of the network. Data can be saved to these
directories by students for access by all students, but there is no place
besides a floppy or CD drive to save individual work for individual
access. This can be a valuable asset
for students. I have seen problems
arise when saving to floppy discs and CDs, and a networked place to save
information can help save you from losing the data, loosing the disc, and it
can make the data accessible from home or anywhere else the Internet is
accessible. I encourage students to
double save or “back up” their work. A
secured network drive for data storage can be a valuable resource for saving,
or retrieving information that can be lost or corrupted.
|