The Institute for Academic Technology is a university/industry collaboration designed to advance the educational value of affordable technologies. A broad spectrum overview of the program's goals from the point of view of the director, a faculty view of participation, and the industry participant's rationale for program support are presented in three papers. The first of these, "A Personal Perspective on Instructional Computing: A New Vendor-Supported National Program" (William H. Graves) asserts that affordable interactive technologies can add value to teaching and learning and that the traditional tentativeness of academe in curriculum revision and innovation argues for national dialogue and national action on new technology. The second paper, "Technology and Language Learning" (James S. Noblitt) examines the role of technology in the evolution of language learning methodologies; and the third and last paper, "IBM and Higher Education: A Continuing Partnership" (Gerald L. Hefley) explains how International Business Machines (IBM) invests in its next generation of workers and in the future of its industry through collaboration with higher education. (Contains 15 references.) (SLD)