Some universities have installed an Amazon Alexa in every dorm room, so could Cabrini follow suit? It’s not out of the question.
Although some students already have the smart device in their room, some of the country’s larger schools are installing them in dorms already. They are being programmed to give answers to specific questions about the school, such as the hours of the library, as well as their normal capabilities. This doesn’t come without controversy as many students are afraid this takes away some privacy.
Sophomore education major David Tilton brought his personal Alexa to school. When asked about the possibility of the school looking at student’s data if Cabrini were to include them, he had an interesting take. He felt like the school already looks at his data on his personal Alexa.
“If this was set up in such a way that everyone knew what was being monitored and it was used to research and improve the student experience, then Cabrini would embark in that effort,” Dr. Stephen Rupprecht, dean of students, said. “We would not be interested in using this technology to monitor for conduct reasons.”
Dr. Eric Malm specializes in technology in education. He thinks it’s not so much what Cabrini does with the information that students should worry about, but what Amazon does with the information could be even scarier. Malm thinks that it would not make sense for Cabrini to look into this. He added that it wouldn’t be a bad idea for larger schools though.
Malm described the cost of everything. He explained the installation and programming of the Alexas would be just as costly, if not more than, Cabrini purchasing the devices itself. He also went on about how they could use students to program as it would be more cost efficient, as well as a learning experience.
Jonathon Papp, junior marketing major, already has an Alexa. He thinks it would be beneficial to all students, especially freshmen. Papp is a resident assistant so he liked the idea as it would take a little bit of a workload from him. He would even be okay with a little bump in the tuition so that the school could purchase the devices. Malm explained that it most likely would not cause a tuition raise, since this would be a one-time purchase. Malm also thought that this could bring some amenities to students.
“Students would most likely get a free trial period to some of Amazon’s subscriptions, such as Prime,” said Malm. Amazon has a student version of Prime that costs 50 percent less than usual. So of course Amazon is all in on schools getting their devices spread around campus. From Amazon’s perspective there are very few cons.
Some people think that smart devices are taking away skills from humans. They think that people are relying too heavily on Alexas and other devices. “Some would argue that this generation is losing basic problem-solving skills because of an over-reliance on technology,” said Rupprecht. “This device should not replace any basic skill required of a young adult.”
Others, like Tilton, will argue that they are really helpful. “They are definitely helpful to have around. It is really convenient to have around.”
So the question still remains… Are Alexas on their way onto our campus? Rupprecht had a response to that “It would be hard to argue that using University funds to secure these devices for all residence rooms would be better than allocating resources to more pressing needs. I think students would enjoy this feature, but many of them already have access to this via their smartphones, so it could be argued that it would be a waste of money.”
