You’re sitting on your laptop in your dorm room at 11 p.m., working to finish an assignment that is due at 11:59 p.m., but Blackboard isn’t loading — the Wi-Fi is down.
You scramble to do whatever you can to make it work, but you’re out of luck.
This has been the story for numerous Youngstown State University students that live on and off campus, which has resulted in late assignments, points deducted and overall frustration.
Danny Madorno, senior telecommunication studies major, said the Wi-Fi issues are recurring.
“I’ve had issues with my devices connecting and disconnecting all semester so far,” he said.
The university has a responsibility to ensure that students have access to the tools they need while on campus.
Although students have access in on-campus computer labs, not being able to connect on their phones to respond to professors’ emails or use their laptops to work with classmates on a group project between classes is frustrating.
More often than not, on-campus computers turn out to have unresponsive Wi-Fi connections, creating an “at-a-loss” feeling for many students.
In Madorno’s opinion, students appear to spend more of their income on online resources versus the traditional textbook cost. This is absolutely true.
“Half the time it’s not even the books that cost us our weekly paychecks, it’s the online codes that do,” Madorno said. “So, how about they show some courtesy and make sure their Wi-Fi works?”
Not only do students have to pay for online codes, but if a student is enrolled in an online class, he or she must pay a $100 distance learning fee.
Not knowing when the Wi-Fi connection will return to normal, or return at all, leaves an unsettled feeling among the student body.
Online resources are used to aid students. They are necessary to complete most courses whether it’s through email correspondence, online textbooks, online resources like YouTube, Blackboard, online certificate programs and more.
This also becomes a problem in the classroom when instructors are relying on technology to teach their class.
“One of my music professors who uses YouTube for listening examples during lessons gets very frustrated because she loses half of the examples she wants to show us because they require internet,” Madorno said.
In today’s society, having a receptive Wi-Fi signal is a necessity for students to complete class work and make it through each semester of their college education.
Frankly, we can’t survive without Wi-Fi. This is the reality we live in.
The university should address this issue in a better manner. A simple email doesn’t do enough. The YSU community deserves to know why its internet connection was lost.
