Alicia McGee

AET 508

Andrea Adins

November 9, 2014

THE FUTURE OF COMMUNITY-BASED PROGRAMS AND EDUCATION

Technology• Technological advancements are rapid and plentiful. These

advancements have changed the way that we live our everyday lives; from banking, watching television, and communicating with each other.

Technology• Our lives revolve around technology. A broken smartphone can

hinder the daily business operations of an entrepreneur; a technological glitch can shut down a corporation. For these reasons, technology should be one of the key considerations for the anticipated changes of community-based services and education.

Community-Based Programs• Google is a major search engine. It is usually the first stop by many

people on the road to research. “Google Scholar is a free service that provides a simple way to search for scholarly works and to connect patrons with the resources libraries provide” (Wang, 2012).

Community-Based Programs

• Being able to type in a term, and to immediately get results helps to locate information and resources easily and effectively. Both community-based programs and educational institutions have made earnest attempts to maintain technological relevance. Libraries, community centers, and senior centers are all community-based programs that have made technological advancements. Most libraries have catalogs that are searchable online. This allows patrons to search databases remotely, which offers a certain level of efficiency.

Education• Educational institutions have also

had to make changes to keep up with technology. “Traditional” educational systems have evolved. Students are able to access classes, course materials, and interact with other learners remotely.

Education

• Platforms like BlackBoard and Adobe Connect allow virtual learning to take place. Curricula have had to be enhanced to accommodate virtual learning. An article says of distance learning, “That requires a willingness to rethink the traditional classroom setting and a willingness to recreate the classroom curriculum” (Kinnaman, 1995).

Funding• Funding community-

based programs and educational institutions have come from a mixed bag. Private, federal, state and other local funding sources should continued to be used going forward.

Funding

• This will allow programs the freedom to do what needs to be done for the populations that they serve. Relying too heavily on one particular source of funding can have a negative affect. “According to an April 2011 Community College Week article, the California Community Colleges system could be forced to enroll 400,000 fewer students and cut thousands of classes because of the state budget impasse and funding shortages anticipated in coming years” (Flynn, 2013).

References • Flynn, W. J. (2013). COMMUNITY COLLEGE FUNDING. The Catalyst,

41(1), 11-13. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1081413462?accountid=458

• Kinnaman, D.E. (1995, January). The future of distance education. Technology and Learning, 15(4), 58.

• Wang, Ya,Howard, Pamela. (2012). Google scholar usage: An academic library's experience. Journal of Web Librarianship, 6(2), 94.