You may have noticed in your classes that there are students from many generations, from Baby Boomers to Gen Z. The different generations have varying comfort with technology.
Stephanie Works, the Veteran Affairs Specialist on the Calhoun Huntsville campus, advises non-traditional military students who are enrolled there. She noted that technology is a vital part of communicating with the college. This process starts with the Calhoun portal for registration and securing email addresses all the way to using Blackboard for class assignments and virtual learning.
According to Just the Facts Fall 2020 published by Calhoun Community College there are 375 veterans enrolled at Calhoun out of a student population of 8,278.
Many of the veterans are not from Alabama but retired employees from Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama who become residents.
Most are seeking retraining since retiring from the military.
“Their level of technology skills varies, most do not posses any college technology training, while some have limited training. It is a rare occasion when they do not possess any type of technology training,” Works said. “Despite this, the veterans are not hesitant in learning technology.”
“Older veterans are retiring after serving twenty years or more and are seeking to start a new career. While younger veterans with four or six years of military service are looking for a first career. Many are seeking in person classes but some are seeking certificate and self-help classes such as electrical or welding certification.”
Works was asked what is something that she says to veterans that helps them to feel at ease in this new environment. “We are a community college not an 18-24 age range, you are not alone.”
Jennifer Cameron, who is a non-traditional student, is a logistics and supply chain manager, who uses technology and is comfortable with the use of it. She uses it daily on her job so it comes easy when using it for school. When she was asked if she utilizes the services offered by the Student Technology Support Center (STSC) she was not aware of the services.
Non-traditional students at Calhoun Community College forty years and older comprise 6% of the student population as compared to 62% of students that are 21 years of age and under as according to Calhoun figures.
“I do consider myself very capable using technology because I use it every single day. At home, I have a laptop, a desktop computer, several iPads, and iPhone. My career is in logistics and supply chain management, so I think that in the future, most things will be robotic with minimal human involvement,” Cameron said.
Nathan Tyler, the chief information officer for information technologies named several resources that are offered to Calhoun students to aid them in technology literacy, The Student Technology Support Center (STSC) and Information Technologies (IT).
These services offer free help to students who are having difficulties with technology; the problems can range from using school technology to using personal devices. In addition to free services, devices can be loaned to students who do not have them. “The majority of students had sufficient access to the technology they needed” stated Tyler.