Journal Entry from July 24th 
Sitting in my hotel room with my bags packed and ready to head back to North Carolina, I have a few minutes to digest the varied issues that were addressed at this Noel-Levitz conference that dramatically impact educational institutions from every state in the country.
The number one issue is the economic downturn and how it’s impacting educational institutions throughout America. I walk away from the conference more positive about this challenge than negative because of the way conference presenter’s framed it and turned it around to be an opportunity for positive change and growth rather than an insurmountable hurdle.
I also feel good about the presentation Title III Project Director Don Staub and I gave the first morning of the conference. We had very positive feedback and participation from our audience. Sharing the strides we’ve made at Carteret Community College made me realize that our efforts are paying off and the grant has been a catalyst for changing the culture of the college for the better when it comes to technology, distance learning, outcomes and assessment of all we do.
Considering I was out of my element at a conference that concerned marketing
and retention rather than distance learning, I was pleasantly surprised at the excellent quality of the presentations and how I learned no matter what area of education your in, whether that be faculty, staff and/or administration we are all facing the same challenges and grappling with rapidly changing instructional delivery technologies and student demographics that no longer fit the mold we as educators created decades ago.
One thing is certain. We can no longer conduct business the same way with the same outdated models. We have to be willing to completely and totally rethink how we offer our instructional services to our students. These are students that are very VERY different than the students that attended our colleges 10, 15, 20 years ago. They communicate differently, socialize differently, learn differently and think about their education and careers very differently, and this reality in itself demands that we rethink how we serve and teach them.
I for one am excited about the challenges ahead, however as I consider some strategies for overcoming these hurdles I think about the bureaucratic road blocks and archaic mindsets we must break through in order to seriously compete and grow in this ever changing, dynamic global economy, where students shop for the best services and colleges online and no longer have to attend the institution in their geographical region thanks to online education. That seems to be one of our biggest challenges as educational institutions. To change the culture and attitudes about education and how we conduct business – because it is no longer business as usual.
Many colleges still use the outdated and archaic industrial revolution model to teach their students. This approach for the most part is no longer viable and one of the first things we must take a good hard look at when rethinking how we operate and deliver instruction. We should also take a hard look at the nine to five, Monday – Friday work week. Is this still viable? I walk away from this conference realizing that absolutely everything we do should be on the table for reevaluation. There should be no sacred cows during this process of self examination.
We have an excellent opportunity to rethink how we operate, streamline, and begin retooling all aspects of our college services and instructional modalities. Unfortunately instructional technologies (and our students) are changing at a must faster rate than we can change so their must be a sense of urgency about our ability to compete and remain viable in this dynamically digital and wired world we find ourselves in.
We should be soul searching and asking ourselves some questions. How are we communicating to our students? How are we marketing to them? How are we delivering our services to them? Do we go to them or expect them to come to us. Is our web site visually dynamic and interactive? Are we exploring the potential of social networks as a way to be more proactive in meeting our students needs? There are many questions to ask and we may not have all the answers and solutions right away, BUT if we don’t start seriously asking these questions at our institutions we are going to (in the not to distant future) find ourselves losing touch with the very market that sustains us.
I'm still jazzed from attending the 
I recently attended the NC3ADL (NC Community College Association of Distance Learning) Conference in Raleigh, NC and was struck by what the keynote speaker NC Community College President Dr. Scott Rawls said in his talk. Dr. Rawls hit a nerve with me and got me thinking about the nature of education as it relates to the current budget crises and America’s ability (and desire) to compete in the “Global Marketplace”. The following article is what I took away from his talk.
Training college faculty in the latest distance learning methodology and instructional technologies has been a huge but imperative undertaking over the past year. The demand for online courses is growing annually and students are arriving in these courses with more advanced and sophisticated technological skills (awareness) than ever before due to the cyber / media culture they have grown up in. That’s why Carteret initiated a series of 
Community College faculty can no longer rely on an archaic industrial age educational model to teach students skills they’ll need to succeed and thrive in a highly technological, creative and entrepreneurial work environment.
Business and industry have embraced and continue to harness a variety of sophisticated communications and educational technologies such as video conferencing, Pod casting, streaming video, interactive online forums, blogs and digital informational / educational media (content) exchanges.
Our goal over the next 5 years is to continue training all Carteret Community College instructors to be the facilitators, mentors, and guides into this new frontier of data, information, content and multi-media. I envision our distance learning training initiative being expanded across the state and becoming a model for the virtual learning communities collaborative effort to increase the quality and availability of online learning and support services.
This is a very exciting yet intimidating and challenging time for educators. If we don’t aggressively retool mentally and technologically we are going to eventually become obsolete and other forward thinking educational venues will fill the void we leave due to being left in the dust by the rapid growth and evolution of instructional technology and web culture. 
Primary course content must be illustrated visually with images and/or graphics.
Faculty members must record a minimum of 3 “enhanced”, audio podcasts (or video) for each course. One podcast should be a course specific audio overview (orientation) outlining your specific expectations for your students to succeed in the class. The second can be a lecture or wrap-up overview of the class highlighting what the students should have learned and what you want them to take away from the class. The goal would be to eventually have audio podcasts of ALL your course lectures.
The faculty members will mentor one instructor from their department in online course methodology and development. 
We are collecting data relating to retention, grades and student satisfaction with the courses before and after.
Carteret Community College administration, faculty and staff are seriously are committed to excellence in all aspects of learning and receiving The Title III Grant has helping us move out of the industrial, instructional model to the creative, conceptual, technological model being demanded by those individuals (students) that come to us for an education.
We are also evaluating and assessing our distance learning professional development activities conducted over the past year to see if they have had a positive impact on STUDENT SATISFACTION and RETENTION rates. Initial anecdotal data looks very positive based on the latest online student evaluations. We have implemented student and faculty surveys in addition to evaluating online course statistics to see if all our efforts have had a positive effect on our distance learning program at Carteret Community College.
As an educator teaching college students in the year 2007, I feel so incredibly empowered now that I’m finally “getting it”. Yes… I’m truly starting to harness, incorporate and channel technology (rich media content) and synthesize it with my teaching style, personality and instructional methodology. 
I’ve been climbing the digital learning curve for over ten years years, but it’s only been recently after a great deal of reading, research, attending distance learning conferences and presenting online teaching workshops that I recently experienced a personal epiphany. WOW!!! I have more tools, options and diverse (high quality) media content at my disposal than ever before. I’ve been teaching for 25 years and its as if I have been completely recharged, rejuvenated, inspired and absolutely jazzed about these powerful new tools that I have literally at my fingertips.
To think I can embed a U Tube video clip about a famous artist or art style into my online Art Appreciation class after a quick google search or an enhanced podcast with Kevin Bacon narrating the life and times of Van Gogh or an interactive web site about 
Yes these are very exciting times, however we cannot be complacent in any way because our counterparts in India, Japan, Russia and China are “getting it” too in a big way and are catching up to us in the fields of science, engineering and mathematics – in fact, in some instances they are surpassing us, so it is time to wake up and crank it up a notch if we don’t want to lose ground and get left behind the eight ball in the 
How do we prepare our students for a future we as teachers can’t describe nor conceptualize? Technology is evolving and changing at an incredible rapid rate. The future is unpredictable and we have no concrete idea what the work environments will be like in 5 years, 10, 15…, and how to prepare our students for them. One thing is certain…digital technology, the internet and globalization have impacted the work and educational environments dramatically. 
Unfortunately our schools and colleges have not kept pace with the technological shift and are in many instances not preparing students for this unpredictable and highly fluid global economy.
Instructional delivery is now mobile and fluid. Students can take educational content anywhere they want and use it on their time not on ours. Ipods, MP3 players, cell phones, jump drives, etc., enable learners to carry instructional content anywhere they like and use it on their terms and on their schedule. Are teachers creating learning environments that are receptive to this new type of learning and student? The fixed time classroom in a box with a sage on the stage is fast becoming obsolete and in my opinion is a dinosaur. Web 2.0 is turning the internet into a giant global conversation. How do we get involved in that conversation? Who do we use it to create jobs? How do we use it to teach our students and prepare them for this unpredictable future that none of us in education truly has any idea of what will be like and what skills our students will need to compete and succeed.
