The global pandemic of COVID-19 forced an immediate shift to online learning at institutions of higher education around the world in 2020. This researcher, a faculty member in a technical education program at a community college, identified the opportunity to capture students' experiences with online and contextualized learning in the engineering technology sector. A convenience sample was drawn from the students in this researcher's spring 2020 courses. Students were surveyed at the end of the term to understand their prior experiences with online and contextualized learning, and to gain their perspectives after utilizing online modalities. While participants indicated that online and contextualized learning cannot fully replace face-to-face learning, the study found a positive increase in mean to students' acceptance of online course modality. Additionally, the use of a contextualized online platform was perceived by the population as being effective for technical education. Students' acceptance of online and contextualized learning has implications for student learning and academic leadership succession planning. Technical academic programs can use contextualized online modalities in a hybrid design to sustain capacity and capability during transitions in academic leadership. This could increase the continuance of niche technical programming in an environment of a diminished talent pool. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]