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Campus News

9th Place Digital Survey Winner


5/9/17

Minnesota West Community & Technical College has been recognized from the Center for Digital Education (CDE) as a winner of its 2016-17 Digital Community Colleges Survey. Now in its twelfth year, the Digital Community Colleges Survey analyzes how community colleges use a range of technologies to improve services to students, faculty, staff and the community at large.

Minnesota West Community & Technical College placed 9th in the mid-sized college category. This is the tenth time Minnesota West has been recognized as a Digital Community College winner.

Kayla Westra, Dean of Distance Learning and Technology comments, “Students are the focus at Minnesota West, and we are committed to providing technology services that meet the needs of all of our learners, whether they are on campus or at a distance. Technology is an integral part of our world, and enabling our students to succeed academically and then transition to their careers is the ultimate reward.”

“This year’s survey indicates community colleges are continuing to improve efforts at creating cost-effective platforms and Open Education Resources, mobile environments, real-time resources, telepresence robots and more to create 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.”

The 2016-17 Digital Community Colleges survey also revealed insights about community colleges’ technology priorities. Colleges surveyed indicated that mobility devices/app support is their top priority in the coming year, followed by website redesign/updates, cybersecurity tools and testing, and digital content and curriculum. The survey revealed that 54% of colleges offer professional development courses on how to use mobile apps for instruction; 28% of colleges offer professional development for teachers or provide specific policies regarding how to protect student privacy when using apps; and 91% offer professional development courses on how to integrate technology into curriculum and instructional practices.