This Postsecondary Teaching with Technology Collaborative (the Collaborative) report examines how faculty and staff at seven community colleges and two broad-access universities reconsidered students' online learning needs in the midst of the pandemic. The report focuses on a set of interconnected student mindsets and competencies that the authors…

The universe of objects containing microprocessors or embedded sensors capable of communicating and transmitting information across networks is called the Internet of Things, and it has enormous implications for community colleges. Already, many colleges are saving time and money by monitoring and controlling "smart building" features…

This paper asks the question: Is now the right time to consider a statewide policy initiative to support increased access for Massachusetts community college students to paid internships that can help them improve their employment and earnings trajectory? Is this something that employers, colleges, and state leaders would see as a welcome…

Like many colleges funded by the U.S. Department of Labor's TAACCCT program, the goal of the Northeast Resiliency Consortium (NRC) (a Round Three grantee) was to enhance the capacity of colleges to accelerate learning, ensure that students attain industry-recognized credentials, foster innovative employer partnerships, use new technologies, and…

Blended or hybrid course offerings in higher education are commonplace and much has been written about how to design a blended course effectively. This study examines publically available guides, documents, and books that espouse best or effective practices in blended course design to determine commonalities among such practices. A qualitative…

This overview introduces "Right from the Start: An Institutional Perspective on Developmental Education Reform," a series of three practitioner briefs on developmental education. Created by Achieving the Dream and MDC, the briefs spotlight successful reform efforts in developmental education at seven Achieving the Dream colleges. [The…

Three community colleges--El Paso Community College, Bunker Hill Community College, and Patrick Henry Community College--incorporated technology into the curriculum to support student progress in mathematics through developmental education. Each college took its own path: El Paso developed a self-accelerated emporium-style computer lab, Patrick…

Since MIT and Harvard started edX, their joint experiment with free online courses, the venture has attracted enormous attention for opening the ivory tower to the world. But in the process, the world will become part of an expensive and ambitious experiment testing some of the most interesting--and difficult--questions in digital education. Can…

The OpenCourseWare movement has its roots in New England. The concept emerged in 2000 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where then-President Charles Vest charged a faculty committee with answering two questions: "How is the Internet going to change education?" and "What should MIT do about it?" MIT moved quickly to…

This qualitative research case study examined the supports required for 31 academically average 10th grade students to succeed on three dual enrollment college courses. Conceptually, support was a team effort, with contributions considered from administrators, faculty, parents and students. The paper documents support contributions from all four…

This article describes a whole new way to communicate news and information to students and other campus members. The College of Business Administration at Creighton University (Nebraska), which has close to 900 students and provides instruction in everything from economics and finance to entrepreneurship and marketing, recently installed four…

Looking to put some of its community members--many of whom have seen their jobs evaporate amid a troubled economy--back to work, administrators at Berkshire Community College (BCC) in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, have committed as much as $200,000 in grant money to establish a new job corps that will give low-income or displaced workers free…

Between 1994 and 2003, employment in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields grew by a remarkable 23 percent, compared with 17 percent in non-STEM fields, according to federal data. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts continued strong growth in STEM job openings through 2014, with emphasis on life sciences, environmental…

In the first decade of the 21st century, the nation, the states, and colleges and universities began to grapple with the challenges of globalization, changing demography, the implications of the digital era, and of a less expansive public sector. Although not a transformative period for higher education, the decade saw significant innovations in…

This study used quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the use of inclusive pedagogy by science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculty at three community colleges. The purpose was to identify barriers to the adoption of inclusive teaching methods for diverse learners and students with disabilities and to propose ways to…