Four Examples of How Colleges Can Collaborate to Improve Online and Simulated Learning

In each of our case studies, community colleges developed a collaborative approach to tackling common challenges facing the state. In New Mexico, the colleges wanted to be able to provide courses to give students in rural areas access to programs as well as the courses they needed to graduate in a timely fashion. In Missouri, the programs needed to meet a workforce demand for allied health professionals were distributed across a large geographic area. In Kentucky, a set of colleges wanted to provide access to adult learners juggling family and job responsibilities and they needed resources to build additional programs on that shared platform. In Kansas, colleges needed to build out their simulated learning environments, which led them to share those resources with each other and with employers. This collaborative problem solving has implications for community colleges navigating their response to the pandemic.