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ERIC Number: EJ1473893
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Jul
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0091-5521
EISSN: EISSN-1940-2325
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Innovating amid Disruption: Patterns of Change and Priorities in Technical Education during COVID-19
Community College Review, v53 n3 p333-353 2025
Objective/Research Question: The global pandemic has caused major disruptions to technical education, a leading innovator in providing students with the most up-to-date education and training as they transition into careers. Although there is growing evidence of instructional changes in higher education more broadly in response to COVID-19, we have yet to learn what has happened in community colleges and specifically technical education. This study examines what new policies, practices, and initiatives pertaining to technical education emerged as a result of COVID-19, along with prominent patterns and themes that underlie the uncovered changes and innovations. Methods: We leveraged the concept of disruptive adaptation, technical college system media sources, and cutting-edge text mining techniques to present a portrait of the changes and innovations that emerged in technical education during the pandemic across a statewide technical college system. Results: Findings revealed seven key areas of change and innovation: technology/material access for virtual learning, instructional adaptations, student support, college operations, return to campus, COVID-19 and community support, and new initiatives. Four themes underlie the emerging patterns and priorities: access and flexibility, holistic support for students, community focus, and agility to innovate. Conclusions/Contributions: Our study points to community colleges' and technical education's commitment to students amid disruptions, as well as the need for a focus on faculty support and development and sustained diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Moreover, through the lens of disruptive adaptation, the pandemic has served as a catalyst accelerating technical education innovation in widespread and overlapping ways within the college, community, and beyond.
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Two Year Colleges
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: 2100029
Author Affiliations: 1University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA