Technology Usage Among Community College Faculty in First-Time-in-College Classes: A Call to Standardization

Abstract

Technology in higher education has played an increasingly dramatic role, particularly on community college campuses, with emphasis on how to provide better services to students via the use of technology. This report examines the challenge for faculty teaching first-time-in-college (FTIC) classes at El Centro College of the Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD): to increasingly incorporate the learning management system (LMS) into the coursework. The components of the LMS would include the use of interactive tools, discussion boards, assessments, real-time rubrics and e-portfolios. However, use of the LMS by the FTIC instructional staff spanned from basic user, advanced user, to super user. This report makes the argument that using a standard LMS template, in specific cases at least, is warranted. That way, all faculty, including new instructors, can use a super-user template that includes interactive tools, learning modules, discussion boards, assessments, and real-time rubrics. The advantages of using a standard LMS template were also examined.

Acknowledgments

This is a summarized version of a longer report. For the full-text version of this report, please contact the author.