By Bradley Mariori
Divine Word University’s Madang Campus commenced their 2024 One Laptop Per Student (OLPS) project on Monday, February 19th, 2024, at the Sir Peter Barter Auditorium with opening remarks delivered by the University’s President, Professor Fr. Philip Gibbs.
Addressing the first-year students gathered, the president disclosed that the laptops had been procured from DELL in Malaysia, at a cost of K3 million to the university for the current academic year.
He underscored the significance of utilizing such devices responsibly, cautioning against the misuse of internet privileges for non-academic purposes.
In this initial phase of distribution, a total of 99 laptops were allocated to incoming students in the departments of Medicine, Information Systems, and Mathematics and Computing Science.
In light of the ongoing power and fuel shortages affecting Madang township, DWU has devised a contingency plan to facilitate the configuration of laptops by their ICT team prior to distribution.
The ICT Division is laboring throughout the week to ensure that all new students receive these essential educational tools before the week’s end.
Reflecting on the initiative, first-year MBBS student Michael Vaki revealed that he was informed via his acceptance letter that full payment of university fees would entitle him to a laptop. Vaki expressed optimism about the impact of the laptops on his studies, noting the increasing reliance on online resources and the necessity of such devices for accessing course materials.
Echoing Vaki’s sentiments, his peer Stayme Yapo emphasized the shift from paper-based work in secondary school to predominantly online tasks at university.
Yapo highlighted the practicality of having a laptop for academic pursuits, particularly amidst advancements in artificial intelligence, thus alleviating the challenges of finding space in the library.
