Most community colleges cannot match the budgets and endowments that are typical of four-year colleges and universities. But that doesn't mean they are lagging in terms of educational technology: In a recent survey on technology integration in higher education, community colleges actually scored slightly higher than four-year institutions.

Overall, U.S. colleges and universities are only half way to fulfilling their potential for 21st-century teaching and learning, according to CDW-G's "21st-Century Campus" report. Only a third of professors said technology is fully integrated into the higher-educational experience, and although 63 percent of students said they use technology to prepare for their classes, just 24 percent said they use it during class.

"We really found that technology matters in the classroom, and that came through loud and clear," said Josh Roberts, senior sales manager for CDW-G's higher-education business. "Students said they wanted it, and faculty said they wanted it. But we also found a disconnect in terms of how often technology is being used in teaching and learning."

College faculty and IT staff agreed that a lack of technology know-how among professors is the biggest barrier to technology integration on campus. Although 85 percent of faculty members said their institutions provide some kind of technology training, 44 percent nevertheless said their biggest challenge is knowing how to use technology in their teaching.

Despite often having fewer resources, community colleges performed slightly higher in CDW-G's index, with an average score of 48.47 out of 100 possible points--compared with an average overall score of 46.08 for all colleges and universities (including community colleges).

This suggests that technology integration depends more on the culture of an institution than on the size of its budget or endowment, Roberts said.

Community colleges, which tend to serve a larger percentage of commuters and adult professionals, scored especially high in supporting the use of podcasting and distance education to deliver instruction. According to the survey, 94 percent of community colleges offer online-learning opportunities, compared with 74 percent of institutions overall.

But community colleges also lag in certain areas, the index suggests--including using social-networking tools to enhance faculty-student interaction and giving students access to their computer networks off campus.

Only 44 percent of community colleges give their students off-campus network access, compared with 62 percent of institutions overall. That's an area where community colleges could look to improve, Roberts said.

Regardless of their majors, students indicated that campus technology played a key role in their selection of a college or university. That gives higher-education officials a powerful testimonial to the importance of IT investments on campus, Roberts said.