TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract: Community colleges are a vital part of the larger higher education community in the United States and increasingly around the world. The more than 1,100 U.S. community colleges—not to mention the hundreds of like institutions internationally—have evolved into dynamic, comprehensive institutions that are often known for their resourcefulness in using any available tool or technique to improve and expand learning [1], [2], [3], [4]. From the early days of correspondence courses to the “colleges without walls” movement of the 1970s and 1980s, community college educators have demonstrated a commitment to extending the reach of education in their continuing efforts to make a difference for students and communities.
In today’s higher education world, asynchronous learning is the power tool. Moreover, the associated techniques for using asynchronous learning to support in-class and online instruction are bringing learning to life in new and exciting ways. This edition of the Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks examines the role of these anytime, anyplace tools with a special focus on the characteristics of the community college movement—particularly the access, affordability, and outreach elements. Readers are treated to explorations of demographic trends, technological tools, and change-management strategies from well known researchers and practitioners. The conversation often ranges beyond community college, and that is with purpose. Community colleges are part of the broader family of education as well as a piece of the social and political fabric of the communities that they serve and thus deserve to be explored in this more complete context.
Abstract: Many students who begin postsecondary education drop out before completing a degree. According to the Lumina Foundation, an estimated 60 percent of students at public institutions fail to complete degrees within five years, and half of these students leave during the freshman year. As shown by research by the Policy Center on the First Year of College at Brevard College (NC) and others, the first year of college is the most critical to a college student's success and to degree completion.
Successful completion of introductory courses is critical for first-year students, but typical failure rates in these courses contribute heavily to overall institutional drop-out rates between the first and second year. Although success rates vary by institutional type and by subject matter, Research I universities commonly cite a 15 percent drop-failure-withdrawal (DFW) rate in introductory courses. Comprehensive universities’ DFW rates range from 22 percent to 45 percent in these courses. Community colleges frequently experience DFW rates of 40 percent to 50 percent or more.
Most of the weaknesses attributed to large introductory courses are generic in nature and have as their source the limitations of the predominant form of instruction in U.S. colleges and universities: the didactic lecture. An overwhelming body of research shows that students do not learn effectively from lectures, and testimony from the field corroborates the literature.
Abstract: Rio Salado, one of the Maricopa Community Colleges in the Phoenix metropolitan area, has not only carved a market niche as a leading distance learning provider for working adults, but has experienced double-digit growth increases as high as 40 percent annually in its online enrollments. With unduplicated headcount exceeding 21,000 distance learning students last year, the majority of them enrolled in web-based courses, this college without a campus has been recognized as a national model for online teaching and learning. This article details how Rio Salado has mainstreamed distance learning throughout the entire college.
Abstract: Community colleges are under persistent pressure to spend more on technology. In lieu of bolting technology onto essential academic and administrative process at additional net cost, savvy community college leaders are planning and implementing academic service redesign strategies to achieve measurable outcomes constituting gains in academic productivity. This paper presents case studies of four higher education institutions that contracted with Collegis for a range of planning, marketing, student recruiting, academic, and technology management and support services. To be able to accomplish more with less, three strategies are discussed: (1) redesigning individual course sections to increase learning and convenience, (2) redesigning common courses to decrease costs and increase learning outcomes, and (3) redesigning program delivery to participate in flex markets.
Abstract: One of the continuing challenges of education is enabling those who strive to improve teaching, learning, and research to take advantage of the too-rapidly-changing new environment created by telecommunications and information technologies. To do so, educational professionals should engage in lifelong professional development and use new hybrid technologies to help build community and support collaboration. This paper explores the issues of technology and professional development from the frame of reference of my work with hundreds of colleges that have benefited from the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Group (TLT Group), an organization whose mission is to motivate and enable institutions and individuals to improve teaching and learning with technology, while helping them cope with change. This article discusses challenges that higher education faces: creating visions worth working toward; developing strategies and tools for achieving intermediate goals; and the importance of breaking taboos along the way.
Abstract: Certainly, the computer and the internet have opened up opportunities and stimulated unprecedented growth. However, even after the turn of a new century, the Digital Divide has not yet closed and sectors of people are still excluded from enjoying the opportunities and growth that now exist. El Paso Community College, in collaboration with El Paso Independent School District and the University of Texas at El Paso, have begun work to bring together all of El Paso’s independent networks into a single high-speed community network that provides online access and delivery of K-Gray education. This newly created Orion Ring Project has identified specific objectives such as delivering dual-credit enrollment classes to high school students and mentoring first-year teachers and education students in the field in order to stem high attrition rates. The next phase will involve adding other networks, such as the UTEP Internet 2 link, to the Orion Ring.
Abstract: The acronym TLC has typically stood for tender loving care. With the influx of technology into the lives of millions, it might appear that TLC is in short supply; however, the League for Innovation in the Community College has taken this notion of TLC and initiated TLC—Transformational Learning Connections—with the objectives of participation, engagement, and collaboration. TLC’s content supports and endorses the promotional reference to Innovation-at-Your-Fingertips through its web-based, anytime-anywhere resource connection between creators of community college innovations and those interested in adopting them. This article presents the seven TLC features—Innovation Express, TLC Forum, Learning Links, Innovation Database, League Connections, Resources on the Web, and the Innovations Online Conference—and the most recent evolution: Innovation Stream or iStream. iStream includes additions such as online conferences, forums, and iStream Radio, which will host a range of programs, interviews, lectures, and seminars with community college leaders.
Abstract: The invention of the printing press reduced higher education’s learning-resource scarcity. Access to learning increased, and this democratization of education indirectly contributed to the idea of political democracy in the western world. As part of these political changes, equilibrium was sought between the supply of expertise needed to promote prosperity and the demand for such expertise. This equilibrium has been elusive as the world economy shifts to a reliance on intellectual capital. To complicate matters, we now live in a world of staggering information abundance. How do we mange such boundless information? One answer may lie in viewing the social character of information (how information is used) as fundamental in setting information management agendas. This article presents a holistic approach to information management as one strategy to create effective management of information that starts with the individual and ends with collective knowledge and wisdom.
Abstract: The DotCom era has educators running faster and faster to keep up with technology that feels more and more elusive. This paper recognizes this chase for what it is—educationally hazardous—and suggests that if we continue racing ahead, we are at risk for personal and professional crashes. Based on the work of the League for Innovation in the Community College with hundreds of colleges through conferences and consultations, this paper shares individual, organizational, and societal road hazards that have proven challenging on this road. The paper concludes with a vision of a journey toward DotCalm, with a focus on learning and inclusiveness in our technology and education adventures.
The Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks (JALN) is published by the Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C™). Responsibility for the contents rests with the authors and not with Sloan-C™. Copyright © 2005 by Sloan-C™. All rights reserved.
