Reimagining Computer Labs for Today’s College Students

Penn State’s Cloud-Based Printing Spurred a Renaissance

At Pennsylvania State University, printing is what jump-started the school’s reimagining of its campus computer labs. In 2019, printer access was a big driver of students’ lab use. For many, the lab offered the only way to print something on campus, requiring students to travel to the lab and sign in to a computer in order to print documents.

“We recognized we needed to do some rightsizing and innovation for our labs,” says Blake Bergey, senior manager of learning applications and technologies at Penn State. “We looked at student printing especially and found our model was antiquated. It didn’t offer students enough flexibility.”

Penn State partnered with a vendor to provide a new, cloud-based printing service called Paw Prints. Fifty-seven Paw Prints kiosks are now located around the school’s University Park campus, replacing printers previously found in the university’s computer labs.

Students, faculty and staff upload their print jobs to the cloud, visit the nearest kiosk and then print their documents. Additionally, users can skip the upload process and directly access their cloud-based storage (or flash drives) at the kiosk.

“Following the introduction of the Paw Prints kiosk solution, overall student use of our labs has gone down, but interestingly, the time per session went up,” Bergey says. Student lab needs were changing.

Computer Labs Support Student Socializing and Collaboration

In conjunction with overhauling the printing program, Bergey’s team began a continuing renovation across all of its computer labs, focusing on opening up the spaces to allow for more socializing and collaboration. They introduced a variety of new seating arrangements as well.

“We give them variety, including singular spaces, group spaces, high tables, low tables, informal and more formal seating arrangements,” Bergey says. “We have collaborative learning opportunities, they can use their devices, or we give access to our devices and large screens in the lab.”

In the labs, Penn State focused on offering access to the technology students told them they needed most.

“Our guidance for updating the computer labs for students was ‘nothing about them without them,’” Bergey says. “It was important to bring them into the planning process, so we cut down the number of computers but gave them other things they requested, such as access to external monitors. All of the labs offer desktop computers, external monitors, large displays and printer kiosks. And there are lots of options for plugging in their own devices.”

Meeting the needs of all students is a major consideration in the lab renovations at Penn State. “It is important for us to not just meet but exceed accessibility standards,” Bergey says. “In our labs, we offer a variety of assistive technologies including oversized display screens, large-print backlit keyboards and adjustable-height desks.”

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Morehouse College’s Google Partnership Leads to a New Lab

Morehouse College, a historically Black college located in Atlanta, took a different approach to updating its computer lab: working directly with a major technology provider to develop and outfit it. While the Google Annex classroom will welcome its first students in fall 2024, student input played a role in the design and development of this dual-use computer lab and classroom.

“Google has been a corporate partner with Morehouse College for over five years,” says Alfred Watkins, computer science department chair and senior assistant professor at Morehouse. “Through Google internships, many of the computer science and software engineering students have experience with Google’s creative office spaces. Partnering with Google, we created the same approach at Morehouse.”

The lab sits between the computer science and chemistry departments. As the space is shared, the two departments collaborated to meet the needs of both. The lab’s selection of technology, including 10 Dell Alienware desktop workstations, loaner laptops, digital cameras, a printer, digital whiteboards and HD projectors, reflects the dual use of the space.

“We’ve made it comfortable with a couch. We have workstations and individual desks on wheels,” Watkins says. “All of these updates make collaboration easier, and we are hosting two new courses here this fall that will take advantage of the updated space: a game development course and an AI in fintech course.”

In addition to being supportive of collaboration and classroom discussion, the lab also showcases a mural depicting famous Morehouse alumni.

“Our vision was a space for students to come for classes and labs, but also to collaborate on projects, for coursework or their own research projects,” Watkins says. “And as they identify needs for additional technology, we want to be able to meet those needs and give them access to whatever they need to be successful.”

University of Hawaii Computer Lab Offers Specialized Technology

The Thomas W.S. Hee Undergraduate Computer Room at the Shidler College of Business at University of Hawaii at Manoa memorializes an admired and successful alumnus: Tom Hee. The college received a bequest from the Clifford and Blanche Hee estate to modernize the lab and honor their son, whose studies and career overlapped finance and management information systems.

“Upgrades include a full refresh and modernization of the space, with sleek new furnishings, upgraded computer systems, sound dampening technology, large digital displays, and flexible working spaces designed specifically for group collaboration and student engagement,” says Vance Roley, dean and First Hawaiian Bank chair of leadership and management in the university’s Shidler College of Business. “Additional Bloomberg terminals were added for students to conduct high-level financial analysis projects.”

Similar to Penn State and Morehouse’s projects, the lab’s renovation emphasizes collaboration, also exposing students to finance-related technologies.

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“There are four areas designed for group collaboration and several workstations with power and connectivity to allow students to connect via laptop, tablet or phone,” Roley says. “For the type of work that may require more powerful and specialized technology, there are also several dual-monitor computers connected to the powerful Bloomberg network of financial and analytics tools.”

Shidler students also sometimes need to use expensive software for their coursework. Fortunately, the lab can provide the access they need.

“Today’s students generally come to college with a laptop computer or tablet and mobile phone. However, business databases and specialized software are expensive for students to access,” Roley says. “We limited the number of desktop computers with dual monitors installed. Students can use these workstations to access the Bloomberg databases and do quantitative analysis.”

The computer lab continues to play an important role on campus. These labs thrive when they are designed to meet the needs of students and how they learn today. Colleges and universities looking to update their computer labs should start with research and outreach.

“Look at current data to see when and how labs are being used,” Morgan says. “Study what students want and what they are doing currently. Participatory design is key. You will hear some things that challenge your thinking on lab use.”