Below you will find a few key points for your successful navigation of the LDT program. Current students completing a postbaccalaureate certificate offered by the LDT Program may find the responses below helpful.
1) Quite simply, complete 5 courses
The setup of the Postbaccalaureate Certificate in Educational Technology Integration is straightforward. There is a list of seven possible courses, and you need to successfully complete five of those courses to complete the certificate.
There is not a required order for taking our courses. You may take the courses in any order you choose. There are no prerequisites for any of the courses in the certificate program (and if there were prerequisites, we’d waive them).
The LDT Program offers certificate courses consistently, and usually every course that we offer is delivered at least once per academic year, if not twice or three times. Some courses are popular and fill quickly. In general, the best advice is to take the courses that you really want to take when they are available.
There is only one required course of the five you must complete, and that is the foundational Systematic Instructional Development course known as LDT 415A.
Therefore you take 415A and four additional courses out of six remaining options:
- LDT 440 – Educational Technology Integration
- LDT 467 – Emerging Web Technologies and Learning
- LDT 505 – Integrating Mobile Technologies into Learning Environments
- LDT 527 – Designing Constructivist Learning Environments
- LDT 550 – Learning Design Studio
- LDT 566 – Computers as Learning Tools
For students who plan to continue from the certificate into the Master of Education in Learning, Design, and Technology (M.Ed. in LDT) degree program, it is worth noting that LDT 467 and LDT 527 are required core courses for the master’s degree, in addition to the LDT 415A course that is required for the certificate. There is some positive strategy behind the idea of completing all of the required courses for the master’s degree while you are a certificate student, but this is by no means an expectation.
2) Choose from the List
The LDT Program does not allow course substitutions for the postbaccalaureate certificate programs. The certificates offer students the ability to select courses within a defined set of options for the certificate. The courses included in the certificate programs were planned and thought-through by the faculty in order to meet the stated design and learning objectives of the certificate.
Students enrolled in the M.Ed. in LDT may consult with their advisor regarding course substitutions that would still fulfill master’s degree requirements. However, certificate students are asked to select their courses from the options listed in the certificate requirements.
3) How many courses in one term?
The majority of students in our certificate programs are working professionals. We find that students with full-time work obligations and family obligations do best when they take one course at a time.
The LDT Program faculty design our courses to expect about 10-12 hours per week for each student. However, individual student needs will vary: Some students will need more time, and some will need less. The amount of time needed to complete coursework will impact the number of courses a student can take in one semester.
Certificate students who are working part-time (or less), or those without significant daily family care obligations, may be able to complete two courses in one term without problem. Students whose full-time study and living expenses are fully sponsored (usually by a government, military, or corporate entity) can potentially complete three to four courses in one term—but doing so is significantly challenging.
4) Remember the basics
Certificate students must select courses from the options listed in the certificate requirements.
Certificate students may take courses in any order. Yes, the required LDT 415A course can be taken last, or third, or second, etc.
In general, take the courses that you really want to take when they are available.
Our LDT program courses do not have prerequisites. If you see a prerequisite listed on a course included in the certificate program, consider that prerequisite waived.
5) When do I apply to the M.Ed. in LDT program?
Students planning to apply for the Master of Education in Learning, Design, and Technology Program should apply before the application deadline that falls during the term that they are taking their fifth course in the certificate. Do not complete the fifth course and then apply—apply during the term of the fifth course. You can see the application deadline and other requirements on the degree’s How to Apply page. As a rule of thumb, you should be applying for the master’s degree before you complete your certificate.
6) Answers to advanced questions
“I’m planning to continue beyond the certificate and pursue the M.Ed. in LDT. How should I select my courses?”
All of the courses listed in the certificate program will count toward the master’s degree. It can be helpful to future scheduling efforts to complete the three required core courses for the M.Ed. in LDT (LDT 415A, 467, and 527) while completing the certificate program.
Future master’s degree students should be aware that per Penn State Graduate School policy, at least 18 credits of a master’s degree must be courses at the 500 or 800 level. That means that M.Ed. in LDT students can take up to four 400-level courses and have them count toward the degree. Since there are 400-level courses that count toward the degree but not a postbaccalaureate certificate, students may wish to take more 500-level courses during their certificate study.