Scott Kolb does not bring paper to his classes. Sometimes the senior cinema-television major doesn’t even bring a pen. Like a growing number of students across the country, he carries high-tech counterparts. In this case, they are his PowerBook and his BlackBerry.

“I type much faster than I write, and I can always read what I type- something I can’t say for my handwriting,” he said in an e-mail interview.

According to Intel’s 2005 “Most Unwired College Campuses” survey, the top 50 campuses are, on average, 98 percent covered by wireless networks. This is a 64 percent increase from 2004. The study showed that campuses with complete wireless coverage also rose from 14 percent in 2004 to 74 percent in 2005.

SMU did not make Intel’s top 50 list. Nor was it ranked on the Princeton Review 2004 list of the most connected campuses, upon which Intel’s list is partly based.

While SMU is not the most connected school in the country, a wireless network covers an estimated 25 to 30 percent of the campus.

“Some buildings are fully wireless, some are partially covered and we have some with no coverage,” said Jesse Miller, director of telecommunications at SMU.

He recommends the Information Technology Services’ wireless networking information page at http://www.smu.edu/help/shared/wireless.asp for a quick reference to which buildings currently have coverage.

Although Kolb did site some areas for improvement, he feels the wireless availability on campus is great overall.

“Dedman College has some catching up to do with the rest of campus, but otherwise I’m happy with it,” he said. “If I still lived in the dorms I’d love to see it expanded there.”

SMU’s network is in the process of expanding. Miller said residence halls and fraternities gained full wireless coverage over the summer. He also listed Dallas Hall as one of about 12 buildings planned for wireless network expansion over the next six months.

Even though Intel ranked Ball State University No. 1 on its list, O’Neal Smitherman, BSU’s vice president of information technology and CIO, said he does not consider his school to be different from other universities. He said wireless connectivity is a trend and next year’s Intel survey will show more campuses fully covered by the technology.

“All communication in the world is moving toward this one new structure,” Smitherman said.

He sees instant access to information as the future of education.

“It just opens up the world,” he said.

According to Smitherman, BSU students come prepared to think in a new way and the job of educators is to make them so comfortable with technology that they adapt quickly. He said they have to prepare students for technology they cannot predict.

Kolb said his PowerBook helps in classes where wireless access is available.

“Some of my classes are very discussion-oriented, and a lot of times there are questions raised that no one has an answer to,” he said. “With Google at my fingertips I can offer an answer to the question in seconds and usually elaborate to further the discussion.”

Kolb has only one class this semester without wireless access. In that class, he submits his quizzes via his BlackBerry, which David Sedman, associate professor of journalism, said is perfectly acceptable.

Kolb said having a computer in class makes him more organized. “It’s much easier to prepare for tests and papers having my notes digitally,” he said. He called his penmanship awful and his ability to keep track of hand-written class notes terrible.

He said the professors he has encountered have not fully embraced wireless access in classrooms and do not actively encourage students to use the Web as a tool to aid in the lecture or discussion.

According to Sedman, some instructors have voiced concern about students misusing the connection to log onto the Internet during class. When asked if he ever uses his wireless connection for purposes other than coursework while in classes, Kolb said, “I’d be lying if I said no. I’m checking my work e-mail, reading the news and so on.”

He described a class in which he could not hear or understand the professor, but was required to stay and take notes from slides. He said games provided a distraction from the boredom.

But in engaging classes without a wireless connection, Kolb said he misses more than just the distraction.

“I am sometimes curious about something the professor is talking about and want to know a little more or want to investigate further,” he said. “The lack of Wi-Fi access is sometimes a roadblock to that.”

Wireless security is another concern of network users. While Miller said wireless networks are inherently less secure than wired, he said SMU has incorporated a multi-layered security approach requiring authorization and authentication. He said the residence halls have 802.1x and Wireless Protection Access, which provide network authentication and which encrypt data from the computer to the access point. The technology can also detect rogue access points and shut them down. Security measures such as these, he said, will expand across campus over time.

Miller said the residence halls also have an intrusion detection and prevention device that monitors wired and wireless traffic for viruses and worms, discarding anything containing them. He said this operates on the same concept as McAfee’s security software but covers the entire network.