Decades after the personal computer promised to revolutionize classrooms, new technology is finally providing students and educators the tools necessary to dramatically improve student outcomes. The next step is to build on
these existing solutions, raising them up and scaling them to benefit all students.
Conditions are ripe to fundamentally alter how educators teach and how their students learn. New delivery models are proliferating to meet the needs of a wide range of students, their goals, and enrollment patterns. For instance, 20 percent of undergraduates currently take at least one online course and even more have classes “blended”—being supported by online learning systems even when learning in class. Increased understanding of how people learn continues to highlight the deficiencies of traditional lectures and the promise of engaging, interactive technologies.
This successful experimentation holds particular promise for low-income and minority students, who suffer from abysmal postsecondary completion rates. Low-income young adults do not complete degrees or obtain credentials primarily because postsecondary education is increasingly expensive, doesn’t fit with their work schedules and family needs, and is often perceived as irrelevant. Yet emerging technologies promise to greatly reduce or, in some cases, eliminate those barriers. For example, courses that combine technology with personal support have the potential to greatly reduce costs and promote flexible scheduling.
Innovative programs, like the new remedial math courses developed at Monterey Institute for Technology and Education, are breaking new ground in the world of high-tech, high-touch teaching. We also are proud to partner with Carnegie Mellon University’s Community College Open Learning Initiative in its work to increase course completion by developing web-based open learning environments for high-demand courses. We are also working with the National Center for Academic Transformation to redesign remedial math classes by integrating technology to increase course completion and reduce instructional cost burdens on the students.
Now, the challenge is to bring that energy and opportunity to more campuses and more students to ensure that every student who has the will to get an education has a way to obtain one.