I've recently been considering starting a second degree. I've been doing a lot of research into American College of Education. Not only are they fully accredited, but they offer some of the cheapest graduate degrees around, and get very good reviews from current and former students. I've been attempting to narrow down my options, and I created this short list of some programs that I'm looking at, along with some pros and cons. Educational Specialist Degree (Ed.S) in Leadership
Overview: Degree that explores concepts like leadership, grant writing, ethical leadership, management, and policy & governance; Designed for leaders in various disciplines. Possible Job Opportunities: Higher Education Administration, Career Counseling, Student Services, Possibly teaching at the community college level, other varied options in business and leadership fields Advantages: Courses would be relevant toward education at any level. Credits could later be applied toward a Doctor of Education in Leadership Degree (Ed.D.) This would mean that it would only require another 23 credits (+ dissertation) after obtaining the Ed.S to then get a full doctoral degree. It is a higher level degree than simply getting a second master’s degree. The Ed.S. is considered a post-master’s degree. Disadvantages: Degree not very well-known outside of academia. Cost: $12,500 Number of Credits: 37 University: American College of Education Website: http://www.ace.edu/academics/ed-d-ed-s-in-leadership/ed-s-in-leadership Master of Education (M.Ed.) in Instructional Design & Technology Overview: Degree that explores the topic of designing instructional materials and developing and implementing these tools both online and face-to-face. Possible Job Opportunities: Instructional Designer at a school, college or business, or possibly at an online course provider such as Coursera or Udacity Advantages: Relatively cheap cost, interesting topic, prior experience with developing English lessons Disadvantages: Possibly hard to break into the field if potential employer demands large portfolio of projects; unlike the Ed.S degree this degree proscribes a specific field of employment Cost: $7200 Number of Credits: 31 University: American College of Education Website: http://www.ace.edu/academics/master-of-education/m-ed-in-instructional-design-and-technology Master of Science (MSE) in Higher Education & Student Affairs Overview: Degree that prepares individuals to work in higher education and student affairs at a college or university Possible Job Opportunities: Career Counseling, Higher Education Administration, Student affairs Advantages: Pretty good price, interesting field Disadvantages: Without internships it might possibly be hard to secure a job, degree is very specific, the Ed.S could offer me the same opportunities and more Cost: $9000 Number of Credits: 36 University: Fort Hays State University Website: http://www.fhsu.edu/aep/HESA/overview/ Advantages of a second master’s Slightly cheaper and quicker than the Ed.S; a M.Ed. in Instructional Design and Technology could nicely complement my interest in education and technology. Disadvantages of a second master’s Keeps me at the same educational level
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As I talked about in my last post, I am currently enrolled in the MOOC course, Shaping the Way We Teach English, offered through Coursera in conjunction with the University of Oregon. I'm soon to be starting two additional courses:
Introduction to Guitar, Berklee College of Music, Provided by Coursera Learning How to Learn, University of California San Diego, Provided by Coursera I look forward to starting these courses, and am amazed at the quality of information being offered online for free. I have recently begun my first MOOC course, offered through Coursera. For those unfamiliar MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Course. These are courses offered online either for free or at a very low cost. Over the last five years, as education increasingly migrates to the online realm, multiple MOOC operators have opened up shop. Coursera, EdX, and Udacity are some of the biggest names in the business.
MOOC's are unique in that there are no entry requirements and students from around the world can join. Classes can be as small as 1 student or contain over 10,000 students. These courses are offered in almost any field imaginable, from astrophysics to social media marketing to teaching. It is this latter category that as a teacher I am most interested in. I am currently taking the course, "Shaping the Way We Teach English, 1: The Landscape of English Language Teaching." I must say that I am most impressed by the course thus far. The course is administered through Coursera, but is a project of the University of Oregon. A typical week involves several videos, video quiz questions, a reading assignment, a discussion in the online forum, and a cumulative quiz. The content has two main thrusts: the use of realia in the classroom and the implementation of project-based learning. The emphasis is on reducing Teacher Talk Time in the classroom and increasing the engagement of the students, especially their affective engagement with the subject matter. In the past week of the course (Week 2), the workload intensified somewhat. In addition to the regular weekly tasks as detailed above, we had to design a lesson plan and related materials that incorporated the use of realia in the classroom. We had to upload our files to Coursera by the deadline. Week 3 (the current week) has subsequently involved evaluating our classmates' lesson plans. This has the dual benefit of not only providing our fellow students with critical feedback, but also giving me great ideas and activities for future lessons. I must say that I am quite happy with the course thus far. The readings, videos, and other assignments are helping to give me new ideas in the classroom, and providing me greater impetus to construct new and exciting lessons. It is amazing how far online learning has come, and certainly is providing tangible benefits to me, and by extension my students. |
AuthorCliff is an adjunct professor at Yonsei University, Wonju campus. Archives
December 2019
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