Grant supports Wake Forest adoption of technology

The grant helps fund a summer program that will give Wake Forest faculty the opportunity to create and test uses of computer technology in teaching. The summer program will be held in 2000, 2001 and 2002. Each year, 12 faculty members-representing a wide range of academic fields-will be selected to participate in the program.

During the summers, faculty will work on their individual projects and attend workshops and seminars presented by invited speakers who will demonstrate how they are taking advantage of technology in their own teaching. Participants will also attend weekly luncheons to discuss the progress of their projects and exchange ideas.

Since the mid-1990s, Wake Forest has received national recognition for its commitment to using technology in and outside the classroom. The university provides its students and faculty with IBM laptop computers for use in their coursework. Recently, Yahoo! Internet Life magazine ranked Wake Forest first among liberal arts schools, and third among all institutions of higher education, in its 1999 annual survey of “America’s 100 Most Wired Colleges,” a guide to Internet use in higher education.

Wake Forest’s technology initiative was launched in fall 1996 as part of a comprehensive plan to enhance undergraduate education. The university has also hired additional faculty, created special seminars for freshmen, reduced class sizes, and developed new study-abroad scholarships, as well as new fellowships that enable undergraduates to work on research projects with senior faculty.