Lone Star College earns prestigious 2012 Computerworld Honors Laureate award

Lone Star College System was recently awarded a 2012 Computerworld Honors Laureate award in the IDG Computerworld Honors Program in the category of training and education.

The award was presented at the annual Laureates Medal Ceremony and Gala Awards that took place Monday, June 4 in Washington, D.C.

LSCS was recognized out of more than 500 nominees around the world for its innovative use of technology in the classroom and promotion of positive social, economic and educational change.

The college used several video technologies to enhance teaching and learning, including the implementation of video cameras to capture video and related content and provide face-to-face communication between campuses.

"A group that I would never expect to use the technology held its regular monthly meeting instead of traveling via TelePresence and WebEx combined," said Link Alander, interim vice chancellor of technology services/chief information officer, in the press release.  "They integrated the two together. That was 27 people who were able to be together on a virtual event. The feedback afterward was phenomenal."

LSCS is also using video to conduct classes for students off campus.

"Video brings the online educational experience to life," said Alander in the press release. "Using Cisco WebEx, instructors are able to distribute learning through video and the Web to more than 25,000 students enrolled in online classes from all 50 states and several overseas countries."