Commuters, care-givers and first-gen students
How technology can change the story
In today’s world where computers are performing more and more tasks, higher education is being challenged to find new and better ways to prepare students for the rapidly changing and increasingly competitive job market.
As machines take over tasks that used to be performed by humans, many displaced workers are being pushed into occupations that cannot be automated. Those occupations often require highly developed skill sets, necessitating an increase in the education level of the workforce.
At the same time that colleges and universities are being challenged by these external forces, they are also facing internal pressures. They’re being asked to navigate budget cuts, keep costs low, meet the needs of an increasingly diverse student body, retain more students, and educate as effectively and efficiently as possible.
Looking to Technology
Many institutions are looking to education technology as a solution to academic challenges, deploying it to create and innovate online instruction, hybrid courses, tutoring programs, performance tracking, and learning management. Such technology allows institutions to reach more students across longer distances, adds flexibility to course studies, and streamlines work for professors in a cost-effective manner.
Many higher education officials and technology experts maintain that educational technology can only be effective when it is integrated strategically with a focus on personal connections, not just adopting technology for technology’s sake[1]. Putting textbooks on a computer is not enough. Colleges need to reimagine teaching and learning to sustainably address the market changes and needs of the student population without losing the quality and heart of what a university education provides[2].
“If we want to get better results in higher education, then we have to do things differently,” says Turina R. Bakken, provost at Madison Area Technical College, in Wisconsin.
“Innovations in technology around student engagement leading to higher success rates are necessary to the future of higher education.”
[1] Vann, B. A., and Hinton, B. E. "Workplace Social Networks and Their Relationship to Student Retention in On-Site GED Programs." HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT QUARTERLY 5, no. 2 (Summer 1994): 141-151.
[2] Laurillard, D. (2002). Rethinking university teaching (2nd Edition). London: Routledge Falmer.
Time for a Complete Re-think?
Perhaps the time has come, education technology experts say, for universities to completely reimagine what learning means to their students, and rather than safely dancing around the edges of technology, commit to the culture change needed to transform the learning experience. Such a shift would entail a combination of effective technology, institutional culture change, and strong digital pedagogy[1]. Professors would need to reimagine their curriculum design and teaching strategies, rather than just learn how to use different technological tools.
Indeed, adopting and embedding new technology is difficult, especially if faculty are left unsupported to figure out how a system will be incorporated pedagogically. That process puts a huge burden on the institution.
For example, a history lecturer at a large state university told us that she posted a 500-word assignment on the LMS and told students to submit their responses as online assignments responses to her. This was deemed her 'adopting' the technology, but it didn't transform learning.
[1] Christine Greenhow & Cathy Lewin (2016) Social media and education: reconceptualizing the boundaries of formal and informal learning, Learning, Media and Technology, 41:1, 6-30, DOI: 10.1080/17439884.2015.1064954
Embrace the Possibilities
Institutions need to think intentionally about how learning is experienced face-to-face versus remote, with all faculty members engaging with the possibilities enabled by technology to reinvent their courses with a focus on how the learning experience can be made more social and interactive.
Only then can an institution provide the most engaging learning experience for the diverse student body of today. More first-generation college students and members of minority groups than ever before are being admitted to higher education institutions. Many are working part-time jobs to pay college expenses and to support their families. Some are coming to the campuses with little or no preparation for the level of work college demands.
On two- and four-year campuses, non-traditional aged students also are attending full- or part-time and trying to balance life, job, and educational responsibilities. All are seeking to build the relevant skills to excel, but often other aspects of life get in the way.
Meeting the Students' Needs
Part of higher education’s challenge is “to meet the learning needs of students who are juggling multiple responsibilities, including working and supporting families, while they are pursuing their educational goals,” says Susan Jeffords, provost at Portland State University.
Poor educational preparation often requires remediation. Roughly 500,000 college students a year have to take remedial courses, and many of them drop out of college because of frustration and discouragement, according to The Hechinger Report, an organization that tracks inequality and innovation in education.
Academic difficulties are not the only reason students quit. More than 40 percent of college students who drop out have grade point averages of at least 3.0 or higher, according to a report by Civitas Learning, an education consulting company. The pull of life’s responsibilities and other factors can overtake the educational focus.
Susan Jeffords, Provost, Portland State University
Susan Jeffords, Provost, Portland State University
Connections are Critical
The connections students make to the campus and to each other are critical to retention. Students who feel a sense of belonging can have increased motivation, loyalty, and performance. The What Works? Student Retention and Success studies, published by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation in 2012 and 2017, identify two main reasons students drop out: lack of engagement and lack of community. The first report states: “It is the human side of higher education that comes first — finding friends, feeling confident and above all, feeling a part of your course of study and the institution — that is the necessary starting point for academic success.”
Technology, if designed and integrated strategically, can help to increase those connections, according to educational technology experts and academic leaders. Higher education has an opportunity to redefine learning for those who are most at risk of dropping out, and arguably those who would benefit the most from education. First-generation, part-time, non-traditional age, and commuter students are among those who rely most heavily on digital forms of engagement because many simply cannot be on campus as much. There is an opportunity for universities to use technology to help students interact better with peers, faculty, and staff, and to deepen students’ engagement with the academic and social sides of college life.
“Technology has to be a part of that answer,” says Jeffords, “not just to enable scale, but to help redefine how we think about learning itself.”
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