In August of 2004, SOBA won a Philanthropy and Education Grant from Hewlett Packard for over $50,000 of the latest digital equipment, including a projector, a camera, officejet printer, and 20 Hewlett Packard Tablet PCs. The Tablet is a new light weight computer designed to work in wireless environments where information can be entered by writing on the screen with a stylus that resembles a pen. The grant will support ongoing research in the School of Business Administration examining the impact of wireless technology on teaching and learning. The research is being conducted by SOBA faculty members Shawn Clouse, Bambi Douma, Jerry Evans, and Barbara Reider.

Some potential benefits of this wireless technology as a teaching and learning tool include:
• Providing immediate feedback and help with questions to students
• Mobilizing teaching and learning outside the classroom due to portability of wireless equipment
• Enhancing possibilities for collaboration and cooperative learning with other students on experiential group projects.
• Allowing for flexible teaching and learning methods designed for different personality types and individual learning style
• Preparing students for the business world with access to state-of-the-art equipment
• More frequent interaction between students, class content, and instructors
• Providing students with instructors who are well-versed in new learning strategies and teaching with wireless technology

The Gallagher Business Building is SOBA’s high-tech learning facility with over $2 million invested in technology infrastructure, made possible by working closely with corporate partners including Hewlett Packard and Microsoft.

Technology at the Gallagher Building includes computer labs, videoconferencing rooms, a high speed network, numerous servers that support learning, and classrooms with dedicated presentation systems. SOBA strives to deploy the latest information technology in order to prepare future business leaders for technology enriched business environments. Implementing a wireless network and lab is a natural extension of our mission and would not be possible without the support of Hewlett Packard.