Volume 59, Issue 5  - September 18, 2006

New lab for computer literacy students
By Marie Melendez
Staff Writer

Diego Lerma/Collegian

Katherine de la Vega, a lecturer in the Computer Sciences Department, conducts class in Rusteberg Hall 111.

Computer literacy students have a new lab.

“This semester we created a new lab and dedicated it just for computer literacy students,” said Associate Professor and Computer Sciences/Computer Information Systems Department Chair Mahmoud Quweider.

When the Business Technology Department moved from Rusteberg Hall to the new Education and Business Complex, Quweider’s department took over its classrooms and converted one into a lab.

“It’s part of revamping the course and making it up to date for our students,” he said. “We equipped it with state-of-the-art equipment. We put new computers and started scheduling courses there.”

The lab has 40 new desks, 40 new computers and a new heavy-duty printer.

“They can print as much as they want without having to pay the 5 or 10 cents,” Quweider said. “The nice thing about this lab is that it’s only for computer literacy students.”

He said another perk is that between classes there will be a lab assistant to help the students.

The COSC 1310 course teaches a basic knowledge of Blackboard, word processing, PowerPoint, Excel, Access and Web pages.

Before, this course was taught in the SET-B Lecture Hall, with no computers; hence, a no “hands-on” approach.

“We [did this], so when we’re teaching the course, [the students] have the computer right in front of them,” Quweider said. “Whatever the teacher does, they can do it at the same time.”

A total of 245 students are taking the course this semester.

“The course is an elective for liberal arts students, kinesiology students, nursing, biology and education students,” he said.

Classes are limited to about 40 students. Previously, classes were comprised of 70 students.

The department is also waiting for the arrival of new computer software, SynchronEyes, which will allow the instructor’s computer to control all computers in the classroom.