Digital Teaching and Learning Certificate

The Certificate in Digital Teaching and Learning is a program wherein students will apply digital tools as they learn critical content. Students will work in a variety of online formats, including synchronous and asynchronous learning environments, and will utilize a deliberate array of digital tools so that upon completion of the certificate students will have experienced first hand tools they can then apply in their own classroom settings. Each student will be required to create a digital footprint that will house their work and progression toward application of all five certificate competencies shown below. The competencies are designed so that participants will be able to apply these competencies to their practice.

The certificate is designed to be completed in one year. After completing the pre-term EDU-500 course, students will move through this program in three terms, beginning with EDU-564 and concluding with EDU-571.

Competencies

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Technology and Digital Literacy integrates the foundations of technology and pedagogical content knowledge. Graduates will be able to:

• Identify, justify and use two or more theoretical foundations of curriculum and instruction in an alternate delivery format.
• Evaluate and categorize the range of instructional media tools available in alternative delivery formats in their instructional area.
• Establish a relevant personal learning network that incorporates digital tools, mobile platforms, and social media outlets.
• Demonstrate and justify the use of at least 3 tools that enable synchronous and asynchronous collaboration and remove learning reflection.

A Social Justice perspective understands the inequalities inherent in our education system and honors the circumstances of diverse learners, cultures, and demographics. Graduates will be able to:

• Consider the diverse learning needs of learners from varied social-economic and cultural backgrounds in order to justify technology and digital tool choices.
• Design an intervention that incorporates alternative delivery methods to address educational inequity in one setting, including students from backgrounds of poverty.

Oral and Digital Communication enables meaning-making of the world by connecting people, ideas, media, and technology. Graduates will be able to:

• Establish guidelines and protocols for their online environment, including issues related to communication, copyright, etiquette, synchronous/asynchronous decisions, and social media.
• Critique social medial options in relation to a particular teaching environment and determine which social media platforms best align with an academic task.
• Establish rationale for tracking and matching varied contact methods with student needs.
• Assess and apply audio and video digital content creation tools to determine appropriate use for learning differences among students.

Standards of Practice align instructors’ day-to-day teaching practices with industry standards, policies, and ethics. Graduates will be able to:

• Analyze copyright and fair use guidelines, locating which applications are free and which are subject to restrictions.
• Inventory and articulate the specific populations who might be defined as underserved by disproportionate access and identify approaches to counter such disproportionality.
• Understand and apply ethical teaching and assessment practices that demonstrate a commitment to inclusion.

Authentic Teaching, Learning, and Assessment practices enable instructors to guide the learning and academic growth of each student. Technology and digital pedagogy become powerful tools for learning. Graduates will be able to:

• Design a learning experience that promotes student retention, academic growth, social and emotional health, and/or risk-taking.
• Understand the dominant learning theories in use in different platforms (e.g., face-to-face, blended, online, etc.)
• Use relevant student learning standards as a guide for the design, delivery, and assessment of standards-based learning.
• Design a differentiated online learning experience for students intended to develop soft and metacognitive skills that incorporates formative and summative assessment measures.