LDT Online MEd

For Students of the Learning, Design, and Technology Programs

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Possible Fall 2017 Offering of ADTED 531

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Based on student need the LLAED and LDT programs are partnering to determine student interest in a Fall 2017 offering of the ADTED 531 – Course Design and Development in Distance Education. ADTED 531 is a required course for the Postbaccalaureate Certificate in e-Learning Design, but it can be taken (with advisor permission) by any Master of Education in Learning, Design, and Technology student.

Anyone who would like to take ADTED 531 in Fall 2017 should send an email to Dr. Kirby as soon as possible. We need between five and eight more students total to enroll for the course to run.

Photo of summertime sunset with a silhouette of a person walking into shallow water.

Dr. Kirby away from 7/12 to 8/2

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Dr. Kirby will be traveling from July 12 to August 2, 2017. He will have limited access to voice and data communications during that time. Advisees and and other LDT students are asked to note the dates. Registration for Fall 2017 courses has been open since March 2017, and by mid-July the current and incoming students should be registered for their courses. If it is not done before July 10th or so, it can safely wait until early August in most cases.

Most of Dr. Kirby’s time away this summer will be serving in a volunteer program management role for an outdoor youth event with 21,000 participants and 8,000 adult volunteers and staff. The opportunity will undoubtedly provide rich and colorful examples of learning design and technology integration that will make their way into his courses.

[First Published: May 9, 2017. Updated: July 11, 2017]

New Blog URL

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The LDT Online Programs were recently granted a newer, cleaner URL for our blog for students. The blog may now be accessed via https://ldtonline.psu.edu.

The existing URL will also continue to work, but will redirect to the newer URL. The existing URL is https://sites.psu.edu/ldtonline.

Some Web browsers may show a security warning when visiting ldtonline.psu.edu for the first time. Users may need to click “Allow Security Exception” or a similar option to proceed beyond the warning page. The Penn State Web team has communicated that they are working toward a solution for the issue.

M.Ed. in LDT Student Handbook

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The handbook for our Master of Education in Learning, Design, and Technology degree program is a cornerstone of advisement for all students (master’s and certificate alike). The handbook describes the program, the admissions process (and options), requirements for completing the degree, the process for graduation, and the process for working with your advisor. Download the M.Ed. in LDT Student Handbook (PDF) here.

Image of Cover of M.Ed. Student Handbook

Welcome Fall 2017 Students!

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Logo of Penn State World Campus with the words Learning, Design, and Technology Program underneath.Welcome New Students

On behalf of the entire faculty of the Learning, Design, and Technology Program at Penn State University, we extend a warm welcome to the students who have recently joined our program. We are excited to have a talented and diverse student body who have an interest in improving the learning experiences in your educational endeavors.

New students naturally have many questions, and we have done our best to prepare resources so that you can navigate into your first courses of our program. Wherever an existing resource doesn’t address a need, please do not hesitate to call or write to one of us. Let’s outline some of our most helpful resources: [Read more…]

Fall 2017 Course Registration

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It may not even be springtime yet, but we are entering that unique time of year when students can register for both summer and fall courses. Students may register today for Summer 2017 courses now, and Fall 2017 course registration starts on April 12, 2017. It is important for students to register for their desired courses as soon as they become eligible to register so that our program can have any chance of being responsive to student needs and interests for courses. In the past, when early registration has shown the need, we have added additional sections of courses when it was possible.

All course registration is completed online via LionPATH. In order to begin registration, students must clear all holds from their student account. Students do not pay for courses at the time that they register, so early registration does not demand early payment.

Lastly, early registration is the benefit that is extended to current students in our program. Current students do not take priority over new students in any course, but current students have activated accounts that make them able to register earlier than the incoming students seeking their first courses.

LDT Fall 2017 Courses

Reg. StatusCourse CodeCourse NameDelivery TimeframeLionPATH Class NumberNotes
FULLLDT 415A, sec 001Systematic Instructional Development8/21-12/8/176743Filled 6/12/17
Filling Fast!LDT 415A, sec 002Systematic Instructional Development8/21-12/8/1729893Added 7/11/17
FULL - Wait ListLDT 467Emerging Web Technologies and Learning8/21-12/8/177916
Filling Fast!LDT 505Integrating Mobile Tech into Learning Env'ts8/21-12/8/1726778
FULLLDT 527Designing Constructivist Learning Env'ts8/21-12/8/177917Filled 6/30/17
Filling Fast!LDT 581Theoretical Foundations of LDT8/21-12/8/177920
OpenLDT 832Designing e-Learning for Course Management Systems8/21-12/8/1729206

Online Courses Now Include Breaks

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Image of the beach at Rio Aguajitas in Costa Rica by Trish HartmannWhen the LDT online programs first launched, we aimed to deliver and complete our courses in one continuous run. This method was first chosen because most of our online students do not have a full week off from work and their daily lives, and we did not want to interrupt our students’ learning for a vacation period that was a vestige of a traditional residential college setting. However, as time, students, and attitudes changed, we across the University heard the demand for our online students to also have the benefit of a weeklong Spring Break or Thanksgiving Break. Beginning with the Fall 2017 term and continuing forward every fall and spring there is now a one-week break period in March and in November included within all online courses.

Each online course instructor establishes their own expectations for the use of the time during the weeklong break. In general there are no submissions due and no active components of the course running. But there may be assignments that stretch over the break and become due shortly after the break ends. This variety in approaches is the same as what happens in the on-campus setting for Penn State’s courses.

For online courses, the fall and spring terms are each 16 weeks long, with one of those weeks being the break week. Courses, then, are usually 15 weeks of content.

Questions about how the spring or fall break weeks impact your course schedule should be directed to your course instructor.

New Year, New Learning

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New year's silver sparkly hat, rhinestone tiara, and candle in front of a large "We Are" lettered in the background.Happy 2017 to the entire LDT community! We are honored to have you as students in our online programs. This new year brings new and improved opportunities for learning, and for preparing for your next professional steps. We resolve to do our best to support your efforts to fulfill your educational goals. If you need information, guidance, or suggestions from us, please contact us immediately.

Course Registration Recap

The Spring 2017 term has started, and things are starting off well. The LDT program is offering nine online courses this term. We’re excited about the complete revamping and re-launch of Dr. Gabriela Richard’s EDTEC 561 course that explores the assessment of the impact of technology on learning. Overall, some of our courses reached their capacity by the end of October 2016, which reinforces the importance of registering for your next courses well in advance. Other courses were full before Thanksgiving. The trend is that the courses that fill first are the courses included in the Postbaccalaureate Certificate in Educational Technology Integration. The few openings that remained at the start of the term were in the courses that apply only to the M.Ed. in LDT degree.

Late Drop and Tuition Adjustment Schedule

[Read more…]

LDT Library Guide

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The Penn State University logo with the words "Penn State University Libraries"The Penn State University education librarian has produced a custom library guide specifically for the Learning, Design, and Technology program’s students, faculty, and staff. The guide gathers onto a single page the most-often-sought digital library resources for the LDT community. If you are fan of Google Scholar, take note: Use Penn State’s authenticated login link to Google Scholar (as opposed to the public scholar.google.com) so that your search results point back to the digital collections that Penn State subscribes to.

Spring 2017 Course Registration Update – November

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Exclamation point icon surrounded by green globe.All students in LDT certificate or degree programs are eligible to register for Spring 2017 courses via LionPATH as of November 2, 2016. Please do not delay. By registering as soon as possible you improve the chances of registering for the courses that you seek, and the LDT faculty can gauge student needs and demands for courses. Early enrollment in the recent past has allowed us to add additional seats or sections of courses, and we will do our best to meet overall enrollment needs of the students in our programs. Early registration does not require an earlier payment of the tuition bill—students may register for courses and pay the tuition bill later.

To reiterate, please register for Spring 2017 courses today!

The table below shows our course offerings for Spring 2017. We have one course with the EDTEC prefix, while all other courses have the LDT prefix.

[Read more…]