Community

WSU students, faculty, and staff do not learn in isolation, but as active members of a diverse community of learners. At WSU, technology is a tool that connects learners, facilitates communication, and supports teamwork and collaboration in familiar and new ways.

Literacy

All members of the WSU community work to improve our world, a world where people use and are influenced by technology. Knowing how to apply technological tools effectively is just one component of information literacy. Using technology across disciplines and contexts, WSU students, faculty, and staff can better understand its impact on their own lives, on the lives of others, and on the world around them.

Technology and the Student-Teacher Relationship

Learning takes place when people and information come together in classrooms, offices, libraries, and online. At WSU, technology does not reduce or replace face-to-face social interaction. It enhances it by providing additional opportunities for people to interact online and by transforming face-to-face meetings in ways that facilitate learning.

Why Laptops?

WSU is more than a just "laptop university." It's a university where students, faculty, and staff use powerful, mobile, multi-functional, networked devices to support their work. Today, that device is a laptop, preconfigured with the specifications, applications, and services required for academic work and supported at the very highest level to ensure continuous access.

Virtually every college and university offers access to the Internet and other information technologies critical to academic success. WSU goes far beyond public Internet access and computer labs. We believe that all students should have access and support at all times. Providing similarly-configured laptops, supported centrally and replaced regularly, remains the best way to ensure the ubiquitous and reliable technological foundation that best supports learning.

Someday, the computing device of choice in higher education will change. Students may come to school already equipped with personally-owned devices that integrate seamlessly and cost-effectively into campus classrooms, networks, and support structures. WSU will continue to track these developments and adjust our laptop program accordingly, remaining committed to providing world-class performance and support to all learners.