This summer we will offer a great course that few of our students have heard about. The course is LDT 433 – Teaching and Learning Online in K-12 settings.

The course is designed for anyone with interests in K-12 education to explore foundational methods, issues, and trends in online education. The course includes online “microteaching” experiences where the student develops and delivers a few online lessons, receiving feedback from classmates and the instructor. The class is number 3051 in LionPATH, and will run from May 6 to July 16.

Hidden Treasure

Knowing that only the most conscientious of our students read our blog, we’d like to let you in on a little secret. This course applies to our Master of Education in Learning, Design, and Technology degree, but it is also the flagship course for our new postbaccalaureate certificate that launched in Fall 2017. The new certificate is called the Postbaccalaureate Certificate in Teaching and Learning Online in K-12 Settings. Students who are certificated teachers in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania who complete the TLOK12 certificate will also be eligible to receive the Pennsylvania Department of Education Online Instruction Endorsement.

While this course is not a part of our other certificates (e-Learning Design and Educational Technology Integration), this should not stop our certificate students from taking this course. It is possible to be enrolled into two certificate programs at once, and with the overlap across our certificates, that is a wise thing to do. Furthermore, for those who are planning to continue into our M.Ed. in LDT program, taking courses outside of your current certificate program need not delay your application to the master’s.

This is how we describe the course:

LDT 433 Teaching and Learning Online in K-12 Settings

This course focuses on the status of online K-12 education including criticisms of the movement and how it is impacting K-12 education in general. Students will critically examine many aspects of online K-12 education including funding, policy, school choice, accountability, and program quality. Students will be guided through the process of transforming their teaching when moving from traditional face-to-face classrooms to online settings. Topics explored include key principles of effective online instruction, tools for teaching online, creation of an online environment conducive to learning, strategies for collaboration and community building, facilitating effective online discussions, designing quality online lessons, supporting learners with special needs and exploring concerns unique to online learning environments. The assignments in the course include micro teaching experience which happens three times for each learner, formal and informal discussion engagement, a resource list for online learning, and the culminating project – a philosophy of online learning. The course utilizes various theoretical and practical resources for student examination and exploration that enable learners to personalize the experience in a way that makes it both meaningful and applicable to their current situations.

This course is newly revised. If you would like more information, please email Dr. Kirby.