Laptop learning to land for UW-Stout freshmen College is first public university in state that will require computers By MIKE JOHNSON of the Journal Sentinel staff Last Updated: Dec. 13, 2000 The University of Wisconsin-Stout will become the first public university in the state to require all incoming freshmen to have laptop computers beginning in the fall of 2002, officials said Tuesday. In a world that increasingly relies on computers in the workplace and elsewhere, UW-Stout officials decided the time was right to make laptops as common on campus as textbooks. UW-Stout joins a nationwide trend of colleges and universities that are requiring or moving to require students to have laptops. "There is now, and going to be, even more so a need for graduates who are computer literate," said John Enger, UW-Stout's executive director of university relations. "We're the first public university in the state to require laptops. We believe all eventually will require them," Enger said. "The time for us is now. We're a very cutting-edge university. Many of our academic programs are the leading programs in their fields," he added. "It's appropriate for us to be leading on laptop computers." Enger said campus officials are still working out the details of setting up the laptop program. Although the devices are costly, he said students either will be able to obtain additional financial aid or loans to obtain laptops. He also said he doesn't believe the requirement will drive students away from UW-Stout, which is in Menomonie, about 25 miles west of Eau Claire. Many schools already require students to have laptops, including nearby Winona State University in Winona, Minn., and the University of Minnesota-Crookston. The University of North Carolina this year required freshmen to have laptops. "From the Winona experience, it's actually a marketing plus. Students embraced it. Parents embraced it. They were very excited about it," Enger said. The Milwaukee School of Engineering last year started requiring freshmen to have laptops. And, although there's no movement at UW-Milwaukee yet to require that all students have laptops, Mohammed Aman, dean of the School of Library and Information Science, said he is trying to acquire 100 laptops through computer foundations so students in information technologies courses can have them. At UW-Stout, officials see the laptop as just another essential tool in education, one they ultimately want to see the university's more than 8,000 students using on a daily basis. The campus already is testing the laptop requirement in a pilot program this year. About 50 students in two majors - technical communication and graphic communications management - are required to tote the computers to their classes. Technical communication majors can land jobs as technical writers, while those in graphic communications management are getting training for the printing industry, which relies heavily on computers. "They are going to use this technology in their careers," said Bruce Maylath, director of UW-Stout's technical communication program. "Technical communicators lead the nation in telecommuting, largely from their homes. They do it with laptops." The laptops in his classes aren't just used for taking notes, checking e-mail or navigating the Internet for research. Maylath said wireless technology allows him to view what his students are writing as they compose their papers in his English and writing classes. He then can "beam" a student's work on a screen so others can see what is being written and suggest revisions. In chemistry classes, thermometers can be plugged into laptops so data from them can be downloaded directly into the computers, Maylath said. In the pilot program, Apple and Macintosh laptops are being used because those are the computers most often used in the printing industry, officials said. Costs for the laptops ranged from $1,750 to $2,000. When laptops become mandatory across campus, students will be able to use either the Mac/Apple platform or Windows-based laptops, Enger said. Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Dec. 13, 2000.