Education practitioners gathered at the 2018 League for Innovation in the Community College Conference on Monday to discuss and promote innovation in teaching and learning across the community college landscape.
Community college leaders and education stakeholders presented on pressing trends that affect community colleges and their students today, data and technology strategies that can help align institutional values with student learning outcomes and equity-minded classroom practices that can reduce the achievement gap and increase student success.
Monday’s keynote presentation began with an overview of some of the main forces influencing the spectrum of college innovation: funding for education, globalization, changing student demographics, increases in use of technology and artificial intelligence and changes in industries and labor markets.
Ken Steele, president and chief futurist of Eduvation, Inc., warned community college leaders that they could not maintain the status quo and expect their institutions to be sustainable.
Regarding changing student populations, Steele highlighted the increase in part-time and commuter students who need flexible delivery models of educational support. He suggested that institutions can implement strategies that engage students where they are, such as at Florida Atlantic University, where the creation of a “Drive-Up Advising” booth led to an increase in students who met with advisors more than in the previous period before the start of the initiative.
He added that more institutions are moving toward using online courses and online workforce training programs, in addition to offering “micro-credentials.” However, Steele said that while this delivery approach may be beneficial for “very self-motivated and self-directed students,” self-paced learning is a “very challenging way to get an education,” especially for many Hispanic and African-American students.
“The solution is actually to blend the two,” combining online and active face-to-face learning environments, Steele said.
