The Promising Role Of Hybrid Learning In Community Colleges: Looking Towards The Future

Abstract

In 2014, community colleges are overcrowded, underfunded, and serve a diverse population.  Community colleges are looking for innovative ways to meet the growing demands of their nontraditional student body on a shrinking budget.  Increasing their online offerings appeared to be a perfect solution.  Unfortunately, research has shown that community college students do not fare well in online classes.  However, the same research shows that community college students do as well in hybrid classes as they do in face-to-face classes.

Hybrid classes are a mix of online and face-to-face instruction.  Although hybrid classes are not as flexible as online courses and do utilize some campus facilities, they offer a promising alternative to traditional face-to-face classes.  The following is a discussion of hybrid learning in the community college setting.