Welcome to the
Edward Donley Computer Center

Lawrence Tech's educational environment seeks to assure that students are well prepared and positioned to take full advantage of advanced learning opportunities.  Through exposure and use of a wide range of information technologies and educational resources, students ultimately are provided a competitive edge in the workplace. Lawrence Tech's computer resources are focused on helping students as they learn, retain, analyze, present, use, and exchange complex technological and graphical information.

Lawrence Tech's comprehensive e-learning and services portal, WWW.MY.LTU.EDU, offers an expanding variety of resources and conveniences. Among them is Blackboard, a comprehensive and flexible e-learning software platform that delivers the University's course management system, customized institution-wide portals, on-line communities, and an advanced architecture that provides for Web-based integration with the University's administrative systems.

The University's course management system offers students the 24-hour/7-day per week access to professors and fellow students not available in the typical classroom environment. Professors can post their syllabi online, as well as class lectures and assignments for immediate retrieval anytime or anywhere with an internet connection. Other features available through Blackboard are discussion boards for posting questions and receiving answers to and from other students and the professor in the class, Virtual Chat Room capabilities for asynchronous communication with the entire class, and the Digital Drop Box, for students to send assignments to professors online.

Registering for classes, inquiring of balances and financial aid disbursements, internal and external job searches, payment of balances, access to the library databases, are among the large number of the additional services that Lawrence Tech students have available through Lawrence Tech's Website, www.ltu.edu.

The University expends considerable resources for staff and faculty training, enhancing the IT service infrastructure, and making extensive improvements to campus facilities that allow students to utilize computer technology to their best advantage. Lawrence Tech offers a variety of computer laboratories and resources.

The University's Edward Donley Computer Center (EDCC) supplies all registered students with free computer accounts for access to email, shared storage and Internet access. The EDCC's central server systems offer access to an extensive and protected disk storage facility.  All students, faculty, and staff may access personal accounts on this system from their laptop or desktop personal computers from either on or off campus.

The goal is to enjoy the best of both worlds -- the speed and graphics capability of single user PC's, and the seamless connectivity of the central system's worldwide Internet communication. The combination extends Lawrence Tech's learning experience to innumerable subjects via the Internet. A fiber optic "backbone" provides cutting edge technology and high-speed computing and media access to the entire campus. Lawrence Tech provides Michigan's first campus-wide wireless system for computers, allowing connectivity to the University's network and the Internet from anywhere on campus.  In addition, selected classrooms and all the architecture studios have port Ethernet broadband connectivity for high-speed connection to student computers.  Lawrence Tech’s off campus connections include access to both the Internet and Internet-II systems, further extending the reach of the Internet into classroom and research activities.

Training sessions, self-paced study courses, and other online assistance help students learn to use the computer.  Within the curriculum, classes are offered in virtually every aspect of computing, from design of the electronics, use of popular software packages for productivity, and programming and advanced issues in data management. Professional state-of-the-art software is used by students and faculty in their fields of expertise.  The University makes extensive use of electronic mail.  Email provides communication between students, faculty, and administrators, and is considered the official means of University communication. 

Numerous high-powered PC workstations loaded with appropriate software are available in three campus computer labs.   These are "open labs," although occasionally, an instructor may reserve a lab for a class period. Reserved lab hours, when in effect, are posted and never more than one lab is allowed to be reserved at any time.  The computer labs also provide access to high-speed laser printers available for student use.  Additional printers are available in the University library and both of the housing units.

LTU students are strongly encouraged to participate in the University’s laptop initiative.  Participation in the initiative provides students with a state-of-the-art notebook computer customized to their academic discipline with latest releases of the professional software used in industry.