My latest obsession: cPods.

cPods, or, Collaboration Pods, are alternative computing stations. A cPod is one table and three chairs comfortably arranged around a large screen (42 inches), one hard drive, three keyboards, and three mouses (yes, mouses is indeed the plural of computer mouse). The idea is that three students can sit around a single computer, each with a keyboard and mouse to help things along. I’m completely in love with this idea, and while I know the best thing is to think about how the students can use it, I can’t help thinking about how I could use it! A cPod would be very useful for us library staff working on a project or a document, poring over excel files and giving directions to the poor soul with the mouse who’s acting as the driver.

Most software is not designed for this kind of set up, really. You can’t really have three cursors, so really you’d have three people fighting over a single cursor. But even that way, I like it. I’ve got applications that I can use to invite other users into my document, with their own cursor. That’s great for working at a distance. But the cPod is for working face to face.

They’re not that expensive; I’m hoping I can convince someone to get me one here in the lab outside my office to replace the two computers currently there. It would be way easier to demonstrate things to faculty this way; they log in, I can use a mouse to point things out, they can keep some power.

I like it.

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