National Survey Recognizes Panola College in Top Tech-Savvy Community Colleges

May 4, 2018 - The Center for Digital Education’s Digital Community Colleges Survey Awards honor community colleges utilizing technology to engage students, collaborate with K-12 and other educational institutions, and improve learning.

Panola College earned a spot in the top 10 ranking of Digital Community Colleges in the most recent survey and competition. Panola College was the only college in Texas to be awarded in the small college category of schools with under 5,000 students and placed seventh in the top ten. Allen West, Panola College Director of Information Technology, made the announcement on Wednesday, April 25, 2018.

Now in its thirteenth year, the Digital Community Colleges Survey analyzes how community colleges use a range of technologies to improve services to students, faculty, staff, and the community at large.

Award winners demonstrated innovative uses of technology, including online courses and mobile environments, mobile apps, secure platforms, and wireless networks.

The survey also revealed insights about community colleges’ technology priorities. Colleges surveyed indicated that mobility devices/app support is their top priority for the coming year, followed by cyber security tools and testing, website redesign/updates, upgrading classroom technologies, digital content and curriculum, and disaster recovery/business continuity. The survey revealed that 34% of colleges have a strategy in place for the use of mobile devices; 35% have a full-time Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) or similar full-time staff in charge of cybersecurity; 71% of the colleges’ websites have responsive web design; and 88% of colleges have off-site data storage redundancies in place.

All accredited U.S. community colleges are eligible to participate in the Digital Community Colleges Survey within three classifications based on enrollment size.

About the Center for Digital Education

The Center for Digital Education (CDE) is a national research and advisory institute specializing in K-12 and higher education technology trends, policy and funding. CDE provides education and industry leaders with decision support and actionable insights to help effectively incorporate new technologies in the 21st century. Learn more at: www.centerdigitaled.com

CDE is a division of e.Republic, the nation’s only media and research company focused exclusively on state and local government and education.