Hi Emma
We have a set up exactly as you describe. Our room has desks on wheels which can be moved to suit the style of teaching or for meetings.
The 20 laptops are quite high specification Dell's with long battery life and wireless connectivity. We have a charging cabinet into which the laptops are placed for charging over lunchtime or overnight. We have also purchased some wired mice as staff found the touch pads quite tricky (students tended not to have a problem).
We originally set the room up like this because getting power and hard wired networking into the room was almost impossible without digging up concrete floors and also the Library wanted the room to remain flexible.
It does take slightly longer to prepare for a teaching session and put the laptops back afterwards compared to a PC classroom, but I think it's worth it having a flexible room.
We have also found with students that they now bring along their own laptops to sessions and follow a session like this.
The other option you might consider are the desks that have flip tops.
Regards
Angela
------------------------------------
Angela Kennett
IS Learning Support Manager
University of Kent
> -----Original Message-----
> From: A general Library and Information Science list for news and discussion.
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Emma Illingworth
> Sent: 07 May 2010 14:52
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Using laptops for library workshops
>
> Hello,
>
> We deliver a programme of library related workshops across the
> University sites.
>
> In our library we have a room to deliver sessions, but it is not
> equipped with computers which limits what we can do.
>
> We're thinking about whether we could use laptops for these sessions,
> for example, workshops about using Endnote Web, and then we can be
> flexible with what else we use the space for
>
> So, I wondered if anyone else has had a similar experience or has a
> space that they use in different ways for running sessions.
>
> Any ideas or experiences would be appreciated.
>
>
> Thanks J
>
> Emma
>
>
>
> Emma Illingworth
>
> Assistant Information Adviser (School of Environment and Technology)
> University of Brighton, Aldrich Library, Cockcroft Building, Lewes
> Road, Brighton, BN2 4GJ.
> ( T: 01273 642 798
> : W: www.brighton.ac.uk/is/
> <http://www.brighton.ac.uk/is/cms/index.php>
>
> : W: http://librariansontheloose.wordpress.com
> <http://www.brighton.ac.uk/is/cms/index.php>
>
>
>
>
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