Non-Traditional Educational Institutions: The American Community College

Oblinger’s quote “Net Generation students expect to be engaged by their environment, with participatory, sensory-rich, experiential activities (either physical or virtual) and opportunities for input. They are more oriented to visual media than previous generations – and prefer to learn by doing rather than by telling or reading. ‘Don’t just tell us – let us discover ‘” (2008, p. 13), along with scores of other research on the needs of learners, inspired us to think differently about how to deliver this graduate level course. With the needs and experiences of our students in mind, we were able to use the tools in Sakai to more fully reach our learners. Specifically, this is the first course in the higher education program that has been delivered primarily online. Further, this course was designed to advance the principles of effective educational practice as outlined by Chickering and Gamson (1987). This was done by harnessing the many tools available within (and outside of) Sakai to move student learning to the center of the course. Students were given choices, control, and room for experimentation. Further, students were challenged to learn how to express what they learned from the literature, experts, and the realities of their adopted community college in a variety of genres. The assessment of student learning did not rest on one or two measures nor did it rely on one or two methods. Students were challenged to learn how to express themselves in blogs, narrated PowerPoint, in wiki postings, chats, orally, and in scholarly papers. Students were also expected to be an active part of the community of learners. This occurred via students developing quiz materials and learning activities, in chat sessions, and through the use of a wiki and blog. Although students received instruction and guidance, it was up to them to make the most out of the experience. Students were engaged in high levels of writing, communicating, and group work. The online elements of the course required thorough and critical reading. Further, students interacted with classmates and instructors more often than in a many of their face-to-face classes. Finally, they were required to use new media tools and express themselves in new ways. An important part of the class was the exploration and evaluation of various teaching and learning methods. This is evidenced by a student’s comment in mid-semester evaluation, “I was at first rather leery about using the full complement of Sakai features, and am still not a fan of the blog (mainly because I've not embraced that form of media communication), but…the variety of learning activities pushes me past the comfort zone and challenges me, and though I may not always like it, I do appreciate how it improves the learning process. This experience has also introduced instructional design features that I can hopefully incorporate in my own repertoire of future teaching endeavors.”