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…

Distance ed and information technology (IT) have had to teamed up to boost Wi-Fi on campus and provide students with face-to-face tutoring due to COVID-19. While the relationship between IT and distance-learning staff is often necessity-driven, changes wrought by the coronavirus resulted in more of a "hand-and-glove" approach, where most…

This article describes how community colleges have evolved from early computers to virtual campuses and beyond in just a few decades.

Community colleges are attempting to bridge America's widening blue-collar skills gap through workforce development programs promising living-wage jobs that don't require four years of college. While trade, construction and manufacturing companies are starving for talented workers, these fields also suffer from an image problem, one fueled by…

As part of the student success agenda, the nation's community colleges have been asked to rethink their approach to education on every level. From the explosion of smartphones and mobile devices on campus to the demand for more robust data analytics and tracking to the increasingly technical nature of global work, technology has evolved from a…

Few professors teaching at community colleges today expect students to learn every nuance of every technological device they are likely to encounter throughout the course of their careers. Educators can expose students to enough of a base so that when the technology does evolve--and it will--they have the confidence and ability to adapt and…

Every year, Lone Star College in Texas hosts a "Men of Honor" program to provide assistance and programming to male students, but particularly those who are Hispanic and black, in hopes their academic performance will improve. Lone Star might have kept directing its limited resources toward these students--and totally missed the subset…

The growth of online education has slowed down among community colleges, but it is still outpacing overall enrollment, while the quality of the education offered has improved from a pale imitation to a worthy competitor, administrators say. More than 5.5 million community college students enrolled in distance education programs in 2013-14,…

Five trends are emerging that will not only change the role of human capital in the United States but will also challenge the legacy system of workforce development, skills and competency-focused institutions, and assuredly, community colleges. Workforce investment boards, for example, are currently geographically constrained in environments that…