“You don’t get to be part of a start up often in your career” if you work in education. So Dr. Shannon McCarty leapt at the chance to be Vice President of Learning and Instruction at Calbright.
“I’ve always worked at schools that were early adopters in online education, and my entire career in higher ed has always been in an online school and really focused on serving a very diverse population of students,” she told DisruptEd, in a recent podcast interview. “That’s where my passion is.”
Guest host Darin Francis – CEO of Harbinger Lane – was impressed, and had a lot of questions about how Calbright – the first statewide, online community college – is using new tools and technology to drive student success.
“The type of work that you guys are doing, it’s truly on the leading edge using all these different kinds of technologies, but I love just how directly linked it is to the problems that you’re trying to solve in the community and getting people the work that they need,” he said.
Dr. McCarty said that Calbright’s edge in technology is its approach to education. It uses a Competency-Based Education model that offers short-term certificates as part of a mission not only to get students in-demand skills but to connect them to jobs. “Calbright was designed to help adult learners move into the job market and new career opportunities as quickly as possible,” while honoring the skills they already have, she said. “We get to do a lot of innovative work.”
That includes partnering with AI tools to meet adult learners where they are and guide them through their online, flexible Calbright programs with tutoring, “just in time interventions,” critical thinking, and digital literacy opportunities. The question is, Dr. McCarty reflects, “How do we integrate AI tools for students to leverage their confidence and competence?”
“It feels to me like this is the moment for Calbright in terms of where we’re at as a society, the challenge that we’re facing,” Francis replied. “It’s an exciting time to have everything you guys have built available in the state.”
