Community Colleges: Market Leaders in Online Education

 

The above video illustrates the prevalence of online education in community colleges in the United States.  The fact is that community colleges are the leading provider of online education, and that this prevalence is all the more striking when you focus on the undergraduate course offerings (Allen and Seamus, 2008; ITC, 2010; NCES, 2008).  Additionally, despite continued growth, student demand for online education has continuously exceeded availability (ITC, 2010).  The growth of the online education industry is outpacing the research needed to build efficient and effective online student programs, especially in community colleges. 

It is important that we do not assume that the tools designed for and research done with traditional students on four year campus will be effective when used with the online community college student. Online students, community college students, and online community college students are all more likely to be what is termed “nontraditional.”  Online students are more likely to be 23 years or older, married with children, employed (often full time), and racially diverse (Reisetter and Boris, 2004; Wyatt, 2005).  In addition to all these characteristics, community college student are also more likely to be less academically prepared and come from lower income families than undergraduates in four year institutions (Cohen, 1990).  Community colleges report that 50 percent of their online students are twenty-six years of age or older, and that sixty three percent are females (ITC, 2010).  The demographics described in these studies suggest that current instruments, methods, and findings from studies utilizing traditional students, may not meet adequately or accurately represent the majority of online students and the programs that serve them.

As a doctoral student, I am pursuing this line of research, and I know that I am not alone.  I am hope though this blog to highlight some of the amazing work being done, connect some of the people doing it, and gain insight from you.  While my plan is to focus on highlights of relevant research, I will also provide relevant links and occasionally share some thoughts on online technology trends, etc. 

I think it, is imperative that researchers recognize and respond to the unique needs of community colleges virtual and online programs as well as the students they serve.  It is also important that this research is timely and distributed to the administration, faculty, and staff providing online coursework to students.  I also want to encourage anyone currently working in this field to suggest areas for research, and for anyone who is doing research in this area to contact me so I can highlight your work.