An Examination of Instructional Approaches in Online Technical Education in Community Colleges
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v23i4.1613Keywords:
online learning, technical education, community college, hybrid, vocational educationAbstract
Technical education programs in community colleges prepare students for many science and engineering-based jobs in the United States. An increasing number of technical education programs in community colleges are using online learning tools to teach courses. However, little is currently known about the ways these programs are integrating online learning in their coursework. This study examined fifteen National Science Foundation funded technical education programs that use online learning to partially or entirely deliver their courses. We conducted semi-structured interviews with key personnel from each project. Through analysis of this data, we found that technical education programs used a variety of instructional delivery approaches that can be categorized as follows: (a) a hybrid or blended course with asynchronous online lectures; (b) a hybrid or blended course with synchronous lectures; (c) a hybrid or blended course with a combination of asynchronous and synchronous lectures and discussions; or (d) a course that is fully online. We also found that online or hybrid technical education programs used a variety of different methods to give students experience in their field of study that can be categorized as follows: (a) pre-recorded video; (b) live video; (c) simulations; (d) equipment at home; (e) equipment in lab; and (f) professional site experience. We recommend that future research examine how well these approaches are working, incorporate student perceptions, and incorporate the views of employers of these programs’ graduates.
References
Allen, I. E. & Seaman, J. (2016). Online report card: Tracking online education in the United States. Retrieved from http://onlinelearningsurvey.com/reports/onlinereportcard.pdf
Benson, A. D., Johnson, S. D., Taylor, G. D., Treat, T., Shinkareva, O. N., & Duncan, J. (2005). Achievement in online and campus-based career and technical education (CTE) courses. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 29(5), 369-394. doi:10.1080/10668920590921589
Buckenmeyer, J., Hixon, E., Barczyk, C. C., & Feldman, L. (2011). Invest in the success of online programs at the university? Mentor professors. Contemporary Issues in Education Research, 4(6), 1-6.
Carnevale, A. P., Smith, N., & Strohl, J. (2013). Recovery: Job growth and education requirements through 2020. Washington, DC: Georgetown Public Policy Institute, Georgetown University. Retrieved from: https://cew.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Recovery2020.FR_.Web_.pdf
Carnevale, A. P., Jayasundera, T., & Hanson, A. R. (2012). Career and technical education: Five ways that pay along the way to a B.A. Washington, DC: Georgetown Public Policy Institute, Georgetown University. Retrieved from: https://1gyhoq479ufd3yna29x7ubjn-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/CTE.FiveWays.FullReport.pdf
Dale, E. (1969). Audiovisual methods in teaching (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Holt,Reinhart & Winston.
Fletcher, E. C., Djajalaksana, Y., & Eison, J. (2012). Instructional strategy use of faculty in career and technical education. Journal of Career and Technical Education, 27(2), 69-83.
Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2010). The first decade of the community of inquiry: A retrospective. Internet and Higher Education, 13, 5-9. doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2009.10.003
Hanna, D. E. (2003). Organizational models in higher education, past and future. In M. G. Moore & W. G. Anderson (Eds.), Handbook of Distance Education (pp. 67-78). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.
Harrison, H.D., Earnest, D., Grehan, L., Wallace, J. (2006). Executive summary: secondary and post-secondary career and technical education in Tennessee. The University of Memphis, TN: Sparks Bureau of Business and Economic Research.
Hoic-Bozic, N., Mornar, V., & Boticki, I. (2009). A blended learning approach to course design and implementation. IEEE Transactions on Education, 52(1), 19-30.
Holstein, J. A. & Gubrium, J. F. (1995). The active interview. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Author (2011). Identifying the state of online instruction in National Science Foundation funded technical education programs at community colleges. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 8(12), 33-44.
Jepsen, C., Troske, K., & Coomes, P. (2014). The labor-market returns to community college degrees, diplomas, and certificates. Journal of Labor Economics, 32(1), 95-121.
Kreamer, K.B. & Zimmermann, A. (2016). Setting a new standard in the 21st century: Career technical education and programs of study. In S. Andreason (Ed.) Developing Career-Based Training (pp. 5-11). Atlanta, GA: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Publisher.
Lin, S. & Chiu, C.-K. (2008). Incentive styles, asynchronous online discussion, and vocational training. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 39(4), 363–377. https://doi.org/10.2190/EC.39.4.c
Lokken, F. & Mullins, C. (2014). Trends in elearning: Tracking the impact of elearning at community colleges. Washington, DC: Instructional Technology Council.
Lokken, F. (2018). Trends in eLearning: Tracking the impact of eLearning at community colleges. Columbus, OH: Instructional Technology Council.
Lynch, R. L. (2000). New Directions for High School Career and Technical Education in the 21st Century (Information Series No. 384). Washington, DC: Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Retrieved from: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED444037.pdf
Mars, M.M. (2013). Community college economic and workforce development education in the neoliberal and academic capitalist contexts. In J.S. Levin and S.T. Kater (Eds.) Understanding Community Colleges (pp. 217-230). New York, NY: Routledge.
Olson, J. S., & McCracken, F. E. (2015). Is it worth the effort? The impact of incorporating synchronous lectures into an online course. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Network, 19(2), 1–12.
Phelan, J. (2015). The use of e-learning in social work education. Social Work, 60(3), 257-264.
Plotkin, H. (2011, January 20). New job training and education grants program launched [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/01/20/new-job-training-and-education-grants-program-launched
Pratt, D.D. & Associates. (1998). Five Perspectives on Teaching in Adult and Higher Education. Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing.
Robison, M.H. & Christophersen, K.A. (2008). The economic contribution of Capital Community College: State of Connecticut. Moscow, ID: Economic Modeling Specialists Inc. Retrieved from https://www.capitalcc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Institutional-Research-The-Economic-Contribution-Of-CCC-2016-1.pdf
Schullo, S., Hilbelink, A., Venable, M., & Barron, A. E. (2007). Selecting a virtual classroom system: Elluminate Live vs. Macromedia Breeze (Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional). MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 3(4), 331–345. Retrieved from http://jolt.merlot.org/vol3no4/hilbelink.htm
Skylar, A. A. (2009). A comparison of asynchronous online text-based lectures and synchronous interactive web conferencing lectures. Issues in Teacher Education, 18(2), 69–84.
The White House. (2009). Education: Knowledge and skills for the future. Retrieved from: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/issues/education/higher-education/building-american-skills-through-community-colleges
The White House. (2014). Higher education. Retrieved from The White House website: http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/education/higher-education
U.S. Department of Education (2012). Investing in America’s future: A blueprint for transforming career and technical education. Washington, DC: Author.
U. S. Department of Labor. (2014). Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Grant Training Program. Retrieved from https://doleta.gov/taaccct/
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
As a condition of publication, the author agrees to apply the Creative Commons – Attribution International 4.0 (CC-BY) License to OLJ articles. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
This licence allows anyone to reproduce OLJ articles at no cost and without further permission as long as they attribute the author and the journal. This permission includes printing, sharing and other forms of distribution.
Author(s) hold copyright in their work, and retain publishing rights without restrictions
