Certificate in Teaching and Learning with Technology

Technology continues to influence how we teach and how we learn across the lifespan. Such a perspective was made clear during the pandemic when a majority of companies, institutions, and K-12 and postsecondary schools were forced to move online and reinvent themselves. While people often know how to use cutting edge technologies for personal growth, they lack knowledge and experience in teaching or learning with innovative tools.

Students in education are not adequately exposed to ETEC courses, which is problematic considering the current situation and related demands. Students from other fields are not provided the opportunity to become proficient with ETEC tools and strategies, whose scope is wide and interdisciplinary supporting mentoring, communication, and instruction across domains. Finally, individuals outside of the university are increasingly attracted by the rising opportunities related to technology and education written large, from K-12 education to health. However, they lack proper know-how for being competitive and even excel in their current profession. This is especially true for international students, who are in need of high-quality offerings to improve their ETEC skills in a post COVID-19 world. The certificate (intended for current students, non-current students, and international students at the post-secondary level) aims to address this gap based on three main reasons:

• There is an increasing demand for STEM-related experts with an expertise in technology and innovation in many fields, from K-12 education to Public Health institutions (https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-10/why-computer-occupations-are-behind-strong-stem-employment-growth.htm). At the same time, there is lack of diversity and inclusion (https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/04/14/6-facts-about-americas-stem-workforce-and-those-training-for-it/) that our offering is well suited to address.
• The recent pandemic has fostered a new attention toward online and blended education (https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/how-pandemic-will-change-future-schools; https://www.edweek.org/technology/a-year-of-tremendous-growth-how-the-pandemic-forced-teachers-to-master-technology/2021/04). As such, ETEC is already playing a core role in the current instructional ecosystem with the creation of novel roles and responsibilities (e.g., creative technologies experts, software developers, IT coordinators).
• Covid-19 has also impacted the job market, with a new emphasis on technology and innovation as tools for improving teamwork, management, and communication (https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/2021/07/12/career-and-technical-education-could-growing-after-covid-19/7917730002/; https://grow.acorns.com/in-demand-jobs-post-coronavirus-economy/; https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/17/the-10-fastest-growing-jobs-of-the-next-decadeand-how-much-they-pay.html). As such, new careers are rising for addressing these needs, from networking/security experts to user experience and instructional designers.

The certificate will provide a solid set of core courses but also flexibility for targeting these opportunities according to students’ aspirations and needs. The variety of job openings that match the scope of this proposal is well reported by looking at Indeed.com (one of the leading search engines for job offerings). By searching for ETEC related positions, results report over 3,000 jobs related to ETEC and other areas like health, communication, industry, and so on.

Students will acquire the knowledge and concrete skills to deploy educational technology theories and strategies to multiple fields – education, public health, communication – serving education institutions, communication-related companies and public health entities (etc.). Non education students will access the most recent best practices in educational technology, applying them in their own field of reference and beyond. Education students will strengthen their know-how in learning innovations while being exposed to interdisciplinary stimuli and references, expanding their professional and academic horizon. To summarize, this program will help students succeed in the increasingly interconnected field of educational technology across multiple sectors and professions.

Program Learning Outcomes

Specifically, candidates who successfully complete the certificate should be able to:

• Identify and evaluate main factors and processes related the role of technology in improving learning and teaching practices at any level, from preK-12 education to professional development needs.
• Deploy learning technologies and related strategies to fields like public health and communication.
• Design technology-mediated solutions for improving education and related best practices.
• Develop interventions for increasing learning outcomes and performances in education, communication, and public health.

Program Requirements

Take all of the following courses (10 credit hours):

1. ETEC 39525   Educational Technology (3 credits)
2. ETEC 47400   Trends in Educational Technology (3 credits)
3. ETEC 47427   Technology & Learning (3 credits)
4. ETEC 47496   Individual investigation in Educational Technology (1 credit)

Select at least two courses from the following list (minimum of 6 credit hours):

1. EMAT 15310   Creative Coding
2. EMAT 33310   Human Computer Interaction
3. ETEC 47403   Instructional Design (3 credits)
4. IT 11000/12000   Office Applications
5. IT 11009   Computer Assembly and Config
6. IT 13000   Applied Security Essentials
7. IT 41010   Mobile Applications for Information Technology
8. PH 20010   Introduction to Public Health Informatics
9. UXD 20001   Introduction to User Experience Design
10. VCD 21000   Introduction to Web Design

Graduation Requirement: Students must have a minimum 2.0 GPA.