California’s 116 community colleges play a vital role in reducing social inequalities, serving the state’s public health needs and educating the future workforce. With a focus on equity and student success, the Governor’s Roadmap recognizes higher education’s role in tackling deep-rooted social and economic inequalities, paving the way for economic prosperity. This is backed up by a $2.9 billion investment.
Used strategically, these funds will enable CCCs to achieve the goal of 70% post-secondary degree and certificate attainment among working-age Californians by 2030.
Investment Summary
Making College Affordable:
· Expansion of Student Success Completion grant eligibility for CCC students ($50m ongoing)
· Financial aid offices to receive an additional $10m
· $20m for emergency financial assistance for AB 540 students
Local Board $750m Block Grant:
· Professional development
· Campus security infrastructure
· Technology infrastructure
· Developing open education resources and zero textbook costs
· Supporting mental health and wellness needs of students and staff
· To be spent over the next 5 years
Growth in Educational Streaming Media
Online learning will play a pivotal role in developing open education resources and zero textbook costs.
In a recent survey1, researchers found that the demand for educational streaming media has grown significantly since 2020 and will keep rising for the foreseeable future. High-quality content free at the point of use and available on demand or integrated into lessons enhances teaching, the curriculum and the student experience. In turn, this improves academic achievement, retention and confidence. More than 25% of survey respondents said that they intend to spend more than 10% of their materials budget on streaming services in the next 5 years, compared to the one in ten who already spend more than 10% of the budget in this way. This is particularly striking, considering that nearly half of all respondents said their materials budget has decreased since 2020. While some digitization of VHS tapes and DVDs is taking place, this is on a very small scale. No one would argue that streaming media is pivotal for success.
When deciding which subscriptions to add to their collections, 96% of survey respondents agreed that the impact on teaching is the most important factor. With 90% agreeing that quality was highly important, these two factors top the list of decision criteria.
Faculty Partnerships are critical for success
But librarians and faculty members face several challenges. As demand has risen, so too have the number of suppliers, some of which offer a broad range of subject products and some who cater to specific audiences (such as performing arts or, in the case of JoVE, STEM subjects). It can be challenging to navigate the subscription models, assess costs versus quality and map the resource to the curriculum.
The CHLOE 7 (The Changing Landscape of Online Education) report2 highlighted the need to rethink institutional processes, practices and priorities. This includes the need for additional support for online learners and processes to ensure that quality assurance standards are met.
Now, more than ever, academics, educators and support services need to work in partnership to secure and supply the resources that will meet their student’s academic, social, domestic and economic needs. They’ll need to demonstrate the pedagogical and well-being value of streaming resources through tracking patterns of usage, listening to students and understanding their perceptions, and they’ll need to examine student outcomes using a wide range of metrics.
The next article will examine how streaming media, particularly JoVE, can help meet CCC’s Vision for Success Goals. You can find that here.
2 https://www.qualitymatters.org/qa-resources/resource-center/articles-resources/CHLOE-7-report-2022
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