Access and inclusion are core values of Centennial College, reflecting the diverse and highly internationalized student body. Centennial leads the college system in utilization of student financial aid, and 43% (11% above the provincial average) of Centennial students are the first in their family to attend post-secondary education.
As the College increasingly moves toward blended, hybrid and online course and program delivery, accompanied by the growing adoption and utilization of digital course resources (for example eTexts) as well as digital library holdings, there are added pressures and a need for students to be able to fully engage in these digital learning spaces. While mobile learning (where learners access and engage in digital communities of learning via hand-held mobile devices or smart phones) is a growing trend across higher education, many other activities such as engaging in critically reflective writing, research, and applied learning using mobile devices is not always optimal.
Increasing enrolment is proportionately increasing program demand for computer lab space. At this time, courses requiring highly specialized software applications are “competing” for scheduled computer lab space with courses in which students are taught basic computer programs (for example, Microsoft Office). The latter demands for lab space could hypothetically be relieved by a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program. As it stands, from a resource allocation perspective, unless all students have a functional laptop with minimum software and hardware specifications all courses teaching digital/software skills require scheduling into computer labs.
The learning experience for students is enhanced through the use of online and mobile technologies in and out of the classroom, allowing them to work with course materials, participate
