National Survey Recognizes Top Tech-Savvy Community Colleges

SACRAMENTO, CA--(Marketwired - April 05, 2016) -  The Center for Digital Education (CDE) announced the winners of its 2015-16 Digital Community Colleges Survey today. Now in its eleventh year, the survey analyzes how community colleges use a range of technologies to improve services to students, faculty, staff and the community at large. 

"This year's survey indicates community colleges are making great strides in using data to improve decisions, providing professional development to assist faculty in the use of technology, and creating robust online and mobile environments for their students," said Dr. Kecia Ray, executive director for the Center for Digital Education. "Congratulations to this year's survey winners."

Award winners demonstrated innovative uses of technology, including online courses and mobile environments, mobile apps, secure platforms and wireless networks.

Highlights of the First-Place Colleges in Each Category:

• Montgomery County Community College, Pa. (Enrollment 10,000 students or more)
  Montgomery County Community College employs a mobile-first strategy for all new services and ensures they are integrated with the college's existing Web portal, mobile and single-sign-on solutions.
  
• Hostos Community College, N.Y. (Enrollment between 5,000 and 10,000 students)
  Hostos Community College recently launched a mobile app, myHostos, which consolidated a number of informational and transactional systems into one secure platform. Hostos also continues to increase the use of tech-enhanced learning through hybrid and fully-online courses to address enrollment challenges as well as the convenience needs of commuter students.
  
• Laramie County Community College, Wyo. (Enrollment up to 5,000 students)
  Laramie County Community College recently revised its portal to include improved navigation and responsive technology. A content management system allows individual departments to control their content while also maintaining a consistent look and feel with the college's brand. The college is participating in Wyoming's unified network that will connect all K-12 schools and community colleges with an expanded broadband network.

This year's Digital Community Colleges Survey also revealed insights about community college technology priorities. Colleges surveyed indicated that website redesign, cybersecurity tools and testing, network infrastructure modernization and server consolidation and virtualization are their top priorities in the coming year. The survey also revealed that 59% of colleges now offer professional development courses on how to use mobile apps for instruction, while 93% offer professional development courses on how to integrate technology into curriculum and instructional practices.

All accredited U.S. community colleges are eligible to participate in the Digital Community Colleges Survey within three classifications based on enrollment size. CDE thanks last year's first-place winners who abstained from participation to contribute to the development panel for this year's survey: Northern Virginia Community College, Va.; Lord Fairfax Community College, Va.; and Carl Sandburg College, Ill.

View the full list of colleges honored.

CDE thanks SHI for underwriting the 2015-16 survey program.

About the Center for Digital Education

The Center for Digital Education (CDE) is a national research and advisory institute specializing in K-12 and higher education technology trends, policy and funding. CDE provides education and industry leaders with decision support and actionable insights to help effectively incorporate new technologies in the 21^st century. Learn more at: www.centerdigitaled.com

CDE is a division of e.Republic, the nation's only media and research company focused exclusively on state and local government and education.