Technology and the Rural Community College: What Can I Do to Help?

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There are so many things that limit or hinder the success of community college students. In many cases these risks are entangled so much, it is hard to distinguish them as separate issues.  I have discussed these issues in detail in many forums and classroom settings, but it is a topic that I believe individuals, at many levels, can work to provide solutions for our students. Many students in community colleges have unique needs. Some of the student population are made up of at-risk students in under-served communities. 

All community colleges have at-risk students and each of these groups have different needs. Sometimes needs can be addressed by the community college and sometimes it is outside of the college's control. Some community colleges are housed in very remote locations with unique challenges due to the location and availability of resources. This not only means that the community college may have limited resources, but the rural community college student is a unique population that has needs that must be addressed. One of this issues is technology and connectivity.

Technology and Connectivity

Connectivity can be a big issue in the community college and students in the rural community college

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face this issue daily. There are many reasons that connectivity is an issue in these areas. Rural communities tend to have many socioeconomic issues that affect access to internet and the technology needed to use the internet. Because of these issues, the rural community college faces challenges that is difficult to overcome. According to Hardy and Katsinas (2007), the budgets of these community colleges are typically less than half of other community colleges, despite the fact that rural community colleges make up more than half of student enrollments across the United States. Not only does it limit students from taking distance education courses and learning from home, but it limits students in filling out applications and getting started in the college system. The students have to come to the college in order to get basic issues taken care of (such as registration, enrollment, financial aid, etc.). This becomes even more of a hardship due to jobs and conflicting work hours with the college hours. Less money with more hardships.

In addition, even if this population can afford all of the technology and access to the internet that they need, some of these areas do not have the ability to be connected. According to Cejda (2007), some areas serviced by the rural community colleges do not have connection availability due to location. The connectivity may be available at the college, but not in the homes in the community. Technology companies deem it too expensive to bring these services in to the community. According to Cejda (2007), more than 25% of individuals do not have “connectivity” due to this issue alone. With the large portion of distance education being delivered through the internet, this creates a greater problem for at-risk students in these community colleges because access is limited and an entire category of educational opportunity is not even an option.

What Can We Do?

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Studies have shown the value of online and hybrid instruction in student success and completion. According to Shea and Bidjerano (2014), students who have access and complete courses in an online setting are more likely to succeed and graduate. This is important because options and opportunity provide avenues for success. A problem that can arise is that students, including those in rural communities, may be excluded from these options and opportunities. In many cases, the rural community college do not have the resources to branch out into the community and the student is limited due to socioeconomic issues and/or physical location. While not everyone cannot provide community-wide or even college-wide solutions, there are some things that an individual (faculty or staff) member can do to help students in different situations.

One thing that faculty and staff can do is create access in the classroom. Use technology and technology stations to familiarize students with the technology. While this does not solve the problem of access at home, it can prepare the student for when that access may become available. Faculty can send reading and assignments home, while creating technology-based assessments in the classroom.

A little can go a long way to help provide access where it is available. Faculty can also invite student service members to their classroom to discuss options. While this cannot be done often because of the need for instructional time, having some time set aside to reach out to students in the face-to-face environment can help student services pin-point need. Sometimes the lack of access for students can create a hardship that the student does not have an avenue (including time) to find help for their problems. This can open the door for the student and potentially help student services see more of the need that is in the college community.

Wrap Up

While providing technology in the classroom and rethinking how instructors use that technology is not a overall solution to lack of resources or access, it does provide a foundation where we can start the process of helping students. This is not an end-all solution to problems that students face, but it is a start of the process. If we build help into our course design and our instruction, we provide another resource for students to succeed. Small steps can really go a long way toward success.


Resources 
Cejda, B. D. (2007). Connecting to the larger world: Distance education in rural community colleges. New directions for community colleges, 2007(137), 87-98.

Hardy, D. E., & Katsinas, S. G. (2007). Classifying community colleges: How rural community colleges fit. New Directions for Community Colleges, 2007(137), 5-17.

Shea, P., & Bidjerano, T. (2014). Does online learning impede degree completion? A national study of community college students. Computers & Education, 75, 103-111.