Dive Brief:
- With far greater diversity in the college-going population, education technology can help more students succeed by facilitating differentiated instruction, edSurge reports.
- Through its e-Literate TV series, edSurge shows schools implementing personalized approaches in different ways and providing multiple levels of support for students. For example, Essex County College in Newark designed a self-regulated, adaptive learning program to reach its large, but diverse, population of students needing developmental math.
- Empire State College recognizes students' prior learning, offering credentials for college-level knowledge they bring to the table, which has an outsized positive impact on students who are women of color.
Dive Insight:
The average college student today is not the "traditional" college student — fresh out of high school and able to study full-time. Community colleges have historically served a less traditional student body but even four-year institutions have had to adapt to a changing demographic as more adults return to get degrees, often part-time while working.
For many schools, revising developmental education programs has been a key strategy for improving graduation rates. A coalition of states and education organizations this week released an updated list of principles to guide development of remedial education programs. These principles, though cost- and labor-intensive, can help transform courses and the outcomes of students.