Wireless winners: IU and Purdue campuses lead the nation.

• Author: Kapp, Jennifer
• Position: Information Technology - Indiana University

WITH INDIANA UNIVERSITY named No. 1 and Purdue University No. 2 among wirelessly connected college campuses nationwide, many of Indiana's college students are already using the tools of the high-tech business world that they'll find after graduation.

"We were quite pleased to learn that Intel ranked IU its top wireless-enabled university in the nation," says Brian D. Voss, associate vice president for telecommunications in the office of the vice president for information technology at IU. "We were equally proud that both IU and our partners at Purdue fared so well in this survey--it really is a testament to the way Indiana's university campuses are deploying technology in support of teaching, learning, and research."

The two universities topped Intel's list of 100 wireless colleges and universities, based on a survey of the number of wireless hotspots, percentage of campus covered by wireless technology and number of undergraduates, number of computers and computer-to-student ratio. Students on these campuses use tablet PCs to capture instructor's presentations and add their own notes. They use PDAs to provide immediate feedback in classrooms. They use their laptops wirelessly in their dorm rooms, at the library in the student union, even outside.

With nearly 1,000 wireless access points already operating in Bloomington, Indianapolis and other regional campuses, IU plans to add another 300 wireless access points before fall. "As of this spring, the number of users of laptops and PDAs has increased to just over 1,000," Voss says. "We're expecting as many as 5,000 such technology-empowered users in August."

At Purdue, wireless-access usage increased 200 percent this year to more than...