NEMCC One Of Top Tech Savvy Community Colleges In The Country

BOONEVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Northeast Mississippi Community College is named as one of the top tech savvy schools in the country.  That honor comes from a national research and advisory institute that keeps track of trends in education.

Students in an Information Systems Technology class are developing apps for iPhones and programming for robotics.

Many of them use devices provided by NEMCC as part of its iPad initiative.  That program provides low-cost iPads to students and their textbooks are included on the device.   The college’s integration of new technology was one reason for a top honor.

“Northeast Mississippi Community College was chosen among top ten in the nation for our efforts in digital education,” said President Ricky Ford during a news conference Wednesday morning.

The California-based Center for Digital Education honors community colleges and analyzes how schools use a range of technologies.  Jeffrey Powell is an apple distinguished educator for the college and has worked for more than four years training faculty and staff to stay ahead of the digital technology curve.

“For us it means we’re headed down the right path with all of our digital initiatives here on campus, and it validates the hard work we’ve done so far,” Powell said.

NEMCC is the only community college in the south to get the top honor.  College president Ricky Ford says faculty and staff will continue to look for innovative ways to use digital technology that will benefit not only students, but also the entire community.

“There are a lot of areas involved with this, cyber security, all those type areas they look at when they choose this award so we’re not just focusing on one individual thing, we’re looking at entire technology effort,” Ford said.

Ford says NEMCC will continue to push ahead with technology initiatives, to provide better resources for students and faculty.

NEMCC will be recognized this weekend for the top honor at an awards reception in Dallas.