Don't Worry, We Will Get Through This Together

The move to digital delivery has gotten us to this point and we can see the final exam period at the end of the tunnel. Now the real work begins. How do we take the classes that we taught onsite, that were then altered for distance learning, and create a robust, engaging, and interactive elearning course that will provide the deep learning our students need to compete in the new career landscape (Maloney and Kim do a good job of explaining the various stages of where higher ed finds itself). Recent research indicates that a well designed online course can have the same or better completion and retention rates as an onsite class. Another benefit of our current situation is that as our students become better at navigating online and hybrid classes, the larger their skill set becomes in tech literacy, one of the key abilities employers are looking for in new hires. We are certainly not alone in this transition but luckily we have a strong history of providing the training and support needed to create elearning courses of excellence. As we prepare for the summer semester, the eLearning Program will be offering a Training Institute Bootcamp. As in the past, the eLearning Training Institute will be conducted fully online. New for this next iteration is training that will combine what is needed to teach either online, hybrid or both. This multimodal training will essentially set us up for whatever comes next. Any faculty who plan to teach in the summer semester that are not currently certified to teach eLearning courses should notify their department chairs that they would like to participate in the Training Institute Bootcamp. For those looking to begin teaching eLearning courses in the fall, there will be another Training Institute in the summer. For those looking for resources  now, check out the on-demand webinars on the Center for Teaching and Learning Enhancement events calendar.

Vibrant Middle Class Driven By Community Colleges

New research from Melissa Kearney and Phillip Levine finds that greater income gaps between those at the bottom and middle of the income distribution lead low-income boys to drop out of high school more often than their counterparts in higher inequality areas, suggesting that there is an important link between income inequality and reduced rates of upward mobility. “Economic despair” may contribute if those at the bottom do not believe they have the ability to achieve middle class status. This research is really fascinating but not all that shocking to the thousands of us that work at community colleges. This tells the all-to-often tragic story of many, if not most, of our students. The upside to all of this is that the opportunities do exist to create a vibrant middle class and more community colleges are opening each year. Moving into the "classroom" (whether onsite or virtually) just how do we introduce this idea. I say early and often. I talk about upward mobility and the quality of life provided by a middle class career all the time. Making the subject relevant, experts say, is the best way to get your students to learn and retain new knowledge. What better way to tie this into everything about them than to talk about the life that can be had by using the fulcrum of higher education (or adult basic education for those seeking a high school equivalency)? You can read the entire report here and I would love to hear your feedback.