The success of Dublin City University’s Student Laptop Loan Scheme may be of wider interest to the sector. In October of 2013, as part of DCU’s commitment to innovation, digital learning and an inclusive student experience, Information Systems & Services (ISS) in conjunction with the Library and Quality Promotion Office launched the Student Self-Service Laptop Loan Scheme. The scheme allows students to take a loan of one of 24 laptops on offer for use in the Library for 3 hours per time. DCU was the first organisation in Ireland to introduce a self-service laptop loan service and this was done through Lapsafe.
This scheme has been hugely popular with students over the academic year from October 2013 to May 2014 as the following figures demonstrate:
- Number of times laptops loaned – over 9000
- Over 4500 loans per semester
- Average loans per month – 1500
- Hours of laptop use – over 23,000
- Individual laptop loan per month – between 60 & 70 times
The demand for this service, evidenced by the above data, demonstrates how digital learning has increasingly become a core feature of the learning experience and that institutions need to plan for ways of ensuring that all students have access to appropriate enabling technologies. Well done to the DCU team for initiating and maintaining such a valuable scheme.
Digital Learning Dispatches 