FSW laptop kiosks levels playing field for student study on campus

You can get just about anything from a vending machine. At Florida Southwestern State College that now includes a laptop.

A new program at FSW allows students to rent out a computer for a few hours, so they can hit the books.

We spoke to the state college Monday. The school says it’ll help level the playing field for everyone.

FSW student Brian Hann uses a laptop every day.

“It’s more convenient than carrying my own laptop here to school,” Hann said. “And it allows me to study anywhere in the library. I don’t have to be locked to a computer desk.”

And he isn’t the only one.

“You don’t have to worry about yours getting stolen from maybe like your car when you forget it there,” FSW student Esthefania De La Nuez said. “You can just get it here, go to class and then come here.”

New laptop kiosks at FSW allow any student check out a computer for free for four hours at a time. Checking out one of the laptops is just like buying food from a regular vending machine. You swipe your card, type in your password and out pops a laptop.

Most of the work students do here at FSW requires them to use a computer with internet access.The school says these kiosks ensure, no matter what a student’s economic background is, they’ll have the tools they need to do well in school.

Since the kiosks popped up on campus in August, laptops have been checked out about four thousand times.

Once the laptop is turned back in, the school says they’re automatically charged, and all the data is wiped clean.

Each FSW campus has a laptop kiosk. Students are charged $5 if the laptop is returned late. FSW says no student has been charged currently. And none of the laptops have been reported lost or stolen.

“They need the technology to succeed,” said Jason Dudley, FSW’s chief information officer. “And, by giving this to them, we are giving them the technology to succeed at this college.”