A STRATE GIC PALN for Ubiquitous Laptop Computing.

The article presents a strategic plan for ubiquitous laptop computing. Computers are becoming standard equipment on university campuses, as basic to scholarship as libraries, books, and pencils, and as essential to communication as telephones. It has become clear that a relevant education in the 21st century must give students experience with the computer tools that will be an inevitable part of their work and lives. If educators are to communicate effectively with their students, they must also be able to speak the language of a computer nurtured generation. This article reports on the experience of one university that has realized a campus-wide computer initiative, and the two-prong strategy that is making this initiative a success as standardization of platforms, and decentralization of implementation. Wake Forest University, Winston Salem, North Carolina took its first steps toward campus-wide computer adoption when it began its triennial strategic planning process in 1994. Laptop computers were chosen as the standard hardware platform at Wake Forest.