Proceedings of 1999 SACCR Workshop

The Impact of Technology on Teaching, Learning, and Research

in the 21st Century Community College

Patricia Windham

The purpose of this workshop was to initiate a discussion among conference participants on the impact of technology on teaching, learning, and research in the community colleges of tomorrow. The workshop, designed and led by Dr. James Morrison, used a small-group format of not over eight people in a group. Groups were given the following tasks:

Group activity focused on the first three questions; time ran out before we could adequately address the fourth question. This report summarizes the common themes based upon the lists developed by each group during the workshop and concludes with the proceedings of each group as they addressed the questions posed above.

The tools identified in the first task included such items as zip drive, Web TV, Internet, satellite, DVD, laptops, and compressed video. The groups then moved into discussions of the use of technology on campus and related concerns. These were grouped into the areas of administration and instruction.

Examples of administrative uses included:

Related administrative concerns:

Examples of Instructional uses included:

Related instructional concerns:

 

Below are the specific proceedings of each small group. The first area is information technologies that currently exist (or are on the horizon) that could affect community colleges tomorrow. The lists have not been unduplicated among groups. It was felt the overlap would highlight which technologies are making the most impact at the college level.

Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 | Group 5 | Group 6

Current information technologies:

Group 1 – Technology

Group 2 - Technology

Group 3 - Technology

Group 4 - Technology

Group 5 – Technologies

- Voice Recognition

- Satellite Technology

- Simulation

- Optic / Retina Recognition

- Ubiquitous Broadband

- Cell Phones

- Compressed Video

- Web TV

Group 6 - Technology

 

The second task was to identify and describe the most critical technologies for (A) teaching and learning and (B) institutional research. This task was interpreted more broadly than just institutional research by several groups and was presented as the most critical technologies or technologically based issues for the administrative and instructional sides of the house. Again there was overlap among the groups.

Most Important Technology or Technological Issue:

  Administrative Instructional
Group 1 Data Warehousing/Data Mining Electronic Security
Group 2 On Line Registration Interactive Distance Learning
Group 3 Web Based On Line Student Services & Traditional IR Functions Web Instruction
Group 4 Events Scheduling Full Screen Video
Group 5 Universal Access Web Based Instruction
Group 6 Data Warehousing/Expert Systems Web Based Instruction

 

The final task was to identify the implications of this area for (A) teaching and learning, and (B) institutional research. Again, the different groups took a broader view and did not limit themselves to just one tool. Rather they tended to list implications and concerns for the areas they had identified in the previous task.

Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 | Group 5 | Group 6

Implications and Concerns:

Group 1 – Administrative - Data Warehousing / Data Mining

Group 1 – Institutions - Electronic Security

 

Group 2 - Administrative - On Line Registration

- Interactive Virtual Classes

Additional administrative areas that may share some of these same concerns:

Group 2 – Instruction - Interactive Distance Learning

 

Group 3 – Administrative – On-Line Student Services and Traditional IR Functions

Additional administrative areas and the related concerns:

Group 3 – Instruction - Web Instruction

Examples: Via Chart Rooms, E-Mail, Fax, Telephone, Meetings, Sessions, and Telephone Conferencing

Evaluation)

- Determine Appropriateness Of Courses / Labs

- Faculty Development For Web Instruction / Follow-up / Management

 

Group 4 - Administrative – Events Scheduling

Group 4 - Instruction – Full Screen Video

 

Group 5 – Administrative - Universal Access (T1 Line)

Group 5 – Instruction - Web Based Instruction

- Individual / Personal

- Opportunity for Intelligent Choices

 

Group 6 – Administrative - Data Warehousing

Group 6 – Instruction – Web Based Instruction