With a focus on incorporating technology and diversity into the curriculum, Penn State has recently integrated both goals into a new program.

The program, known as Project MELD (Multicultural Enhanced Learning for Diversity), was formed last month and is being directed by Teaching and Learning with Technology, a division of Information Technology Services.

The goal of the project is to help faculty incorporate diversity into their courses through the use of technology, said Marilynne Stout, director of Education Technology Services, a department within Teaching and Learning with Technology.

"What would those faculty members need to help them broaden their course?" Stout asked.

"MELD became a good way, in my mind, to help."

Though the project is still in the formative stages, initial plans include several different initiatives.

The earliest initiative likely to be implemented is the creation of an online database of successful diversity-based classroom activities including projects, lessons and research that faculty members can use in their courses.

MELD will begin compiling a list of these resources this fall, with the hope of beginning a pilot program of the database for the following spring, Stout said.

Faculty workshops designed to help professors learn how to create an open classroom climate will then be created.

These workshops could begin as early as the summer of 2003 and will incorporate online tutorials.

Another initiative being considered is a Web site that catalogs teacher and student views of classroom experiences with the goal of using the feedback for improvement.

John Cahir, vice provost and dean of undergraduate education, said technology had been incorporated into classrooms successfully, but it had not been used to aid in diversity applications.

"It's a new idea," he said.

"This is a project that's designed to explore that."

Funding for the new project came from a $250,000 grant from the AT&T Foundation, which supports innovative uses of technology in education.

"We also think it's important for college campuses to increase diversity," said Marilyn Reznick, vice president of the foundation's education program.

"To really try to infuse that through the entire curriculum ... the potential impact is tremendous," she said. "That's why we were so attracted to this."

Part of the project also includes cooperation with other Big Ten universities in sharing ideas that have been successful at each school, Stout said.

The project is also looking for feedback and ideas from students based on their classroom experiences with diversity and technology, Stout said.

"I would love to have student input," she said.

"That would help us make the whole project better."

The ultimate goal of the project is to use technology to aid students in obtaining a broader world-view and education, Stout said.

"The goal is what can technology do to help a student grasp the information," she said.

"It's technology for people, not technology for technology."