As lockdown loomed in March last year, universities faced tough decisions on how they could equip students to learn remotely. The vexing question was whether campus closures would be temporary, or a longer term-term barrier to learning that required a significant investment in new IT.
The University of Bradford reacted swiftly, sourcing around 80 new laptops and delivering them to students around Leeds, Bradford, Keighley and Howarth. However, staff knew that if lockdown continued after the summer break, some of its students would be hit particularly hard by a switch to remote learning because not all would have access to laptops.
More than half of its students (55%) fall into the lower socioeconomic group of coming from a household where income is less than £20,000 a year. It is also listed by the Higher Education Statistics Agency as the UK’s most diverse university outside London, in terms of its intake of students from a BAME background.
Before lockdown, all students had access to a suite of more than 400 computers on the university’s campus. There was also a short-term laptop loan facility from the library. With the campus shut, the university’s IT director, Juliette Atkinson, realised swift action was needed.
“Last spring we were hearing stories of students writing dissertations on mobile phones because they had no access to a computer,” she recalls.
“We knew we had to do something major to ensure the start to the next academic year was a lot smoother.”
The plan was to create four new networks around the campus through which students could log in to the university’s computing system to carry out research, write essays and attend online lectures.
The work was carried out at great pace but, the IT team realised, without some students having the equipment to get on to the new network, it would be of little use. Hence, Atkinson and her team made existing loan stock from the university library available for longer-term use at students’ homes. They knew this would not be sufficient for the next academic year, though. For that, Atkinson got agreement from the university to release enough funds to buy 900 laptops from its provider, Lenovo. Placing an order was easy enough but getting hold of units during lockdown was much harder.
“There was a real issue last spring and summer because of Covid restricting shipping and stocks being rightly prioritised for the country’s fight against the pandemic,” Atkinson says.
“But I can’t tell you the relief we felt when we took delivery of 900 laptops ahead of the current academic year.”
These are set up by IT staff to access the university’s IT infrastructure remotely before being loaned to students without devices for the duration of their studies. The first 300 were distributed in the first semester of the current academic year, with one even sent to an international student in Portugal who was unable to return to the UK due to lockdown. Now the second tranche of 300 are being distributed, with the final 300 are expected to be loaned out before the end of the academic year.
The project has been well received by students. When surveyed, 89% of those involved revealed that it was invaluable in helping them carry on with their studies. This is reflected in figures that show student retention is up 43% compared with previous years. First-year healthcare degree apprentice Jodie Metcalfe is just one of many students for whom a loan laptop has been the difference between carrying on with her course or dropping out.
“When Covid-19 hit, my lectures and seminars were called off and replaced by online classes,” she says. “I simply couldn’t get by just using my phone for lectures, let alone completing and submitting my coursework.
“I was really struggling. Without a computer I couldn’t continue my apprenticeship. The university project helped to reduce my stress, the laptop has been so valuable.”
The programme has proved particularly helpful for students with final-year dissertations to complete before they can graduate, such as Michelle Ratcliffe.
“I had limited, at times no, access to a computer and I couldn’t get to the university for normal study due to Covid-19,” she says. “It was very frustrating as I couldn’t progress with my dissertation. The laptop I received was brilliant and I’ve been able to complete work on my dissertation.”
The 900 laptops will be returned when students finish their studies so others can benefit from the free resource. The university is currently considering whether it has the funds required to order more loan laptops for September’s new intake of students.
The project’s legacy will go beyond students being able to complete their studies after a very difficult year of lockdowns. The new robust infrastructure, Atkinson points out, meant the university was in a much stronger position to support remote learning during lockdowns and although it plans to return to campus-based learning, its new infrastructure will only enhance its future student offer by supporting the use of technology in learning. This will greatly help with business continuity if students or lecturers need to self-isolate or international students are unable to attend the university.
