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Students experiment with technology in new CIS lab
In this cold weather, a lot of students are wishing they could head to the coast. Although Bentley may not have a beach, we do have the brand new CIS Learning and Technology Sandbox in Smith Academic Technology Center room 234. Mark Frydenberg, senior lecturer of CIS, is responsible for this incredible transformation of the former CIS Tutoring Lab into a state of the art technology center, which opened in September.
What used to be a cold, dark room has been converted into a bright, welcoming place for students to come learn about technology. In software development, “sandbox” means an online environment in which changes can be made without affecting the original system. The environment of the Bentley Sandbox intends to reflect this idea. It is a place where students can explore new technologies freely.
“When I was asked to oversee the CIS Lab at Bentley starting this year, I knew that I wanted ours to become an informal place that supported learning and discovery not only about course-related topics, but also about the Web and technology in general,” said Frydenberg. “In industry, the term ‘sandbox’ refers to an environment for experimentation and trying new things. That’s our vision – to create an inviting, collaborative space for exploring and learning new technologies and to support student learning for our courses in ways that resonate with today’s digital students. We chose that name – the Sandbox – for our facility.”
The Sandbox is open seven days a week, for a total of 70 hours of exploration time. It is staffed by graduate students in the MSIT (Masters of Science and Information Technology) program and undergrad students with a minor or major in CIS. The staff members are very passionate about sharing the new technology in the center.
When students enter the Sandbox, they must swipe into a computer which records why students are coming in order to better serve students and teachers.
Michelle Aldag, a graduate student, said that the Sandbox is “not just for tutoring, but more of a place for students to come and learn about new technologies and how to make use of them.”
Previously, the CIS Lab featured one long table and multiple desks with desktop computers lined up against the walls. The new space encourages conversation around multiple small tables and a gaming area with comfy chairs. It is equipped with Google TVs, an interactive SMART board, touchscreen Windows 8 computers and an Xbox 360. There is also a quiet study lab in Smith 212 and other Google TVs in Smith that are controlled by the Sandbox. Just last week, they were used to broadcast Gloria Larson’s TED talk.
“The Academic Technology Center has a budget for maintaining specialty labs,” said Frydenberg. “Smith 234 hadn’t been updated since the Smith building opened eleven years ago, so they designated funds from that budget to apply to these renovations.”
Students can come here for tutoring in their CIS courses, but according to Michelle, their “real focus is to help students get more creative and learn more about technology.”
Some of the events the center has hosted include an IT seminar on new features in Windows 7, a workshop teaching students how to make their own Xbox games and a mobile app development program.
“I went to the Sandbox for help with my classes, but I ended up staying to play around with the technology,” said Evan Farina, a CIS major. “There is a lot of cool stuff there that I would not have been able to access on my own.”
There is currently an ongoing competition to design a logo for the Sandbox. The winner will be revealed at the Sandbox’s open house on Thursday, December 1 at 3 p.m. First place will receive an iPod nano, second place will get a $50 Amazon gift card and third place will win an Xbox or PC game. Along with revealing the winner, the open house will also have all of the technology available on display for students to check out.
To learn more about the Sandbox, you can visit their website cis.bentley.edu/sandbox, Twitter (@cisSandbox) or Facebook page (Bentley CIS Sandbox).
