EDTC Program Requirements
Students admitted to the program must maintain a 3.0 grade point average and make steady progress toward assembling the portfolio of items required for graduation. All students take required core courses (6 credits) in curriculum theory (EDUC 640) and action research (EDUC 600 or 607). All students enroll in three required educational technology courses (9 credits): EDUC 639, Technology and Cognition; EDUC 685, Multimedia Literacy; and EDUC 639, Learning Technology Across the Curriculum. Students complete the master's coursework by taking educational technology electives (12-18 credits) that cover a broad range of topics across K-12 education (ISTE) as well as higher education and industry (AECT). Students who write a Master's thesis take 12 elective credits plus 6 thesis credits. Students who do a major project enroll in 3 credits of independent study with their major professor. All other students take 18 credits of electives. It is in consultation with their advisor that students decide whether to write a thesis and which specific courses to elect in order to prepare appropriately for their intended workplace.
Note: EDUC 639 is an educational technology course number that appears multiple times in the list of EDTC course requirements and electives. Each time, EDUC 639 has a different course title. The School's graduate curriculum committee recommended this use of EDUC 639 to enable the EDTC program's faculty to create new course offerings that address needs in this fast-paced field without consuming a new course number each time.
EDTC Performances
Regardless of which specific courses the students elect to take, all degree candidates must complete the following performances:
- National Standards Benchmark ePortfolio. This is a Web portfolio that candidates create at the beginning of the program when they take the multimedia course. In addition to demonstrating proficiency in multimedia authoring techniques, candidates use the portfolio to demonstrate their current level of compliance with either ISTE or AECT standards. Teachers who seek the TF endorsement must demonstrate compliance with the NETS-T standards.
- Needs Assessment. This is a term paper with a literature review that candidates write during their first year in the program. It establishes the need for school or building-level improvements in the educational technology infrastructure, including professional development, networking, and the home-school connection.
- Curriculum Project. This is field experience during which candidates keep a reflective journal documenting plans, experiences, and improvements made in a local school or workplace setting.
- Action Research Paper. This is a major research paper or thesis that the candidate writes toward the end of the master's program. In an action research project, the candidate conducts a local experiment in order to determine whether a nationally recognized best practice implemented in the local school or workplace can achieve results akin to those described in the research literature.
- Instructional Design. The candidate designs and develops one or more lessons or modules on a topic of strategic importance to the curriculum of the local school or workplace. TF candidates must develop a lesson incorporating instruction on social, legal, ethical, and/or human issues related to the use of technology in education.
- School or Workplace Technology Plan. This is a strategic plan that explains how the local school or workplace will go about achieving strategic goals by using technology to provide instruction, collect data, and evaluate results in order to determine the extent to which standards have been met. The plan includes a work schedule, hardware and software configuration, a proposed budget, and a budget explanation.
- National Standards Capstone ePortfolio. In the capstone ePortfolio, the candidate submits artifacts documenting achievements in each ISTE-TF or AECT-SMETS standards domain. For each standard, the candidate explains the manner in which the artifact(s) address the criteria. According to the ePortfolio rubric, the candidate includes feedback provided by portfolio reviewers and responds to the feedback with reflections based on the standard, the artifact, and plans for continued improvements.