Tuesday, March 19, 2002

Should Colleges Require Students to Buy Computers? 2 Administrators Exchange Views By JEFFREY R. YOUNG Should more colleges require students to purchase computers? More than 100 institutions have done so, but some administrators question whether the requirements are worth the cost to students. The Chronicle invited two administrators to discuss the pros and cons of computer requirements. The administrators -- David G. Brown and Michael B. Sperling -- are at institutions that have taken different approaches to the issue. Mr. Brown is a vice president at Wake Forest University, which was one of the first universities to require students to purchase computers. Mr. Sperling is associate provost for interdisciplinary, distributed, and global learning at Fairleigh Dickinson University, which seriously considered a computer requirement for its students but decided against it. Instead, Fairleigh Dickinson has taken the unusual step of requiring all of its students to take at least one course online each year, beginning with this year's freshman class, as a way to make sure all students are exposed to virtual classrooms. Listen to the full audio recording of the discussion (about 18 minutes). RealPlayer software is required. Or, listen to the following highlights (one to two minutes each) from the discussion: David G. Brown, a vice president at Wake Forest University: Computers have become as critical to campus life as libraries. About half of all institutions expect students to have access to computers. Colleges can phase in computer requirements. Michael B. Sperling, associate provost for interdisciplinary, distributed, and global learning at Fairleigh Dickinson University: We decided to go a different route. Institutions should consider computers requirements as part of their strategic planning. Colleges should also consider alternative ways to achieve similar goals. Or, download the full audio to your own computer for later listening (in MP3 format). * * * A free version of the RealPlayer software is available at the Real Networks Web site. Join an online discussion about the issues raised in the discussion. Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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