ABSTRACT

The information and learning commons serves an important role at the community college, a distinctly American institution of higher education. Community colleges offer two-year Associates degrees in technical fields that are career-oriented or undergraduate programs that are transferable to universities for baccalaureates. Most community colleges are nonresidential, with students commuting during the day between class, work, and home. Juggling the demands of employment, family, and school often makes community college life stressful and disjointed.

The information and learning commons should be the heart of campus where learning occurs with the aid of technology so as to integrate disparate resources, such as the library collection, computer labs, tutoring center, and instructional media. Unlike the traditional library, the commons attempts to facilitation human interaction and dialogue to promote learning within a social context.

Given the transient campus experience of community college students, the commons provides a gathering place to study, do research, get tutoring help, check email, surf the web, have a cup of coffee, meet with classmates, chat with friends, dialogue with faculty, read for pleasure, and relax between classes, thereby connecting students to a community of learners and strengthening the “community” in community college.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Dr. Michael B. Reiner is the Executive Dean at the Kent Campus of Florida Community College in Jacksonville, U.S.A. He has been an administrator in academic affairs in community colleges for the past eight years. Before that, he was a professor of psychology for seventeen years at colleges and universities in the United States. While at Kennesaw State University in Atlanta, he was recognized for his accomplishments with the Distinguished Teaching Award and was named University System of Georgia Board of Regents Distinguished Professor for Teaching and Learning. At Florida Community College, he is responsible for the redesign of traditional libraries into learning commons so as to promote teaching and learning in the 21st century. He has traveled extensively in Europe and Central/South America, as well as to mainland China, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. This is his first trip to Hong Kong.