Supporting mobile devices is a top priority among a majority of community colleges surveyed in the Center for Digital Education’s annual Digital Community Colleges Survey, which offers an inside look at schools’ technology and innovation priorities.
Other priorities include cybersecurity tools and testing, redesigning or upgrading websites, upgrading classroom technologies, digital content and curriculum, and disaster recovery/business continuity.
According to the survey, 34 percent of community colleges have a strategy in place for the use of mobile devices; 35 percent have a full-time chief information security officer or a similar full-time role; 71 percent of surveyed community colleges’ websites have responsive web design; and 88 percent have off-site data storage redundancies in place.
The survey names three winners, grouped by enrollment size, based on how they use a range of technologies to improve services for students, faculty, staff, and the community. The three winners are J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, Va. (Enrollment 10,000 students or more); Walters State Community College, Tenn. (Enrollment between 5,000 and 10,000 students); and Manchester Community College, N.H. (Enrollment of 5,000 or fewer students).
The survey also reveals a number of trends in the top priorities named by surveyed community colleges:
Mobility strategy
1. 34 percent of surveyed community colleges have a strategy in place for the use of mobile devices
2. 51 percent are piloting the use of mobile devices in classrooms but lack a formal strategy
3. 44 percent of colleges offer professional development for teachers on how to use mobile apps for instruction
4. 20 percent of colleges offer professional development for teachers or provide specific policies regarding how to protect student privacy when using apps
Upgrading classroom technologies
5. 74 percent of colleges use standardized classroom implementations to cope with limited budgets
6. 77 percent of colleges report they currently use technology tools for the classroom such as interactive whiteboards, document cameras, display equipment, assessment tools
7. 13 percent of colleges will be modernizing, expanding or replacing their classroom technology tools in the next 12-24 months
Content and curriculum
8. 69 percent of colleges employ full-time employee(s) specifically to assist in designing online or multi-modal content and courses for use by college staff/faculty
9. 58 percent of colleges report that many of their instructors are using hybrid or online teaching models
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