The Teaching and Learning with Technology undergraduate certificate provides students with the tools to acquire the knowledge and concrete skills to apply educational technology theories and strategies in multiple fields while working at educational institutions, communication-related companies, public health entities and other industries.
Teaching and Learning with Technology - Undergraduate Certificate
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- Program Coordinator: Chia-Ling Kuo | ckuo@kent.edu | 330-672-0599
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Kent State University’s Undergraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning with Technology provides targeted education in teaching and learning styles utilizing educational technology. This program offers career benefits for students looking to specialize in teaching and learning with educational technology.
This certificate is for students in both education and non-education fields. Non-education students will access the most recent best practices in educational technology, applying them in their own fields of reference and beyond. Education students will strengthen their know-how in learning innovations while being exposed to interdisciplinary stimuli and references, expanding their professional and academic horizons. To summarize, this program will help students succeed in the increasingly interconnected field of educational technology across multiple sectors and professions.
Program Information for Teaching and Learning with Technology - Undergraduate Certificate
Examples of Possible Careers and Salaries for Teaching and Learning with Technology - Undergraduate Certificate
Those who complete the Undergraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning with Technology at Kent State University can benefit from specialized career opportunities in the educational technology industry.
More About This Program
Technology continues to influence how we teach and how we learn across the lifespan. Such a perspective was made clear during the COVID-19 pandemic when a majority of companies, institutions, and K-12 and postsecondary schools were forced to move online and reinvent themselves. While people often know how to use cutting edge technologies for personal growth, they lack knowledge and experience in teaching or learning with innovative tools.
Students in education are not adequately exposed to ETEC courses, which is problematic considering the current situation and related demands. Students from other fields are not provided the opportunity to become proficient with ETEC tools and strategies, whose scope is wide and interdisciplinary supporting mentoring, communication, and instruction across domains. Finally, individuals outside of the university are increasingly attracted by the rising opportunities related to technology and education written large, from K-12 education to health. However, they lack the proper know-how to be competitive and even excel in their current profession. This is especially true for international students, who are in need of high-quality offerings to improve their ETEC skills in a post COVID-19 world. The certificate (intended for current students, non-current students, and international students at the post-secondary level) aims to address this gap based on three main reasons:
- There is an increasing demand for STEM-related experts with an expertise in technology and innovation in many fields, from K-12 education to Public Health institutions (https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-10/why-computer-occupations-are-behind-strong-stem-employment-growth.htm). At the same time, there is lack of diversity and inclusion (https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/04/14/6-facts-about-americas-stem-workforce-and-those-training-for-it/) that our offering is well suited to address.
- The recent pandemic has fostered a new attention toward online and blended education (https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/how-pandemic-will-change-future-schools; https://www.edweek.org/technology/a-year-of-tremendous-growth-how-the-pandemic-forced-teachers-to-master-technology/2021/04). As such, ETEC is already playing a core role in the current instructional ecosystem with the creation of novel roles and responsibilities (e.g., creative technologies experts, software developers, IT coordinators).
- COVID-19 has also impacted the job market, with a new emphasis on technology and innovation as tools for improving teamwork, management, and communication (https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/2021/07/12/career-and-technical-education-could-growing-after-covid-19/7917730002/; https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/17/the-10-fastest-growing-jobs-of-the-next-decadeand-how-much-they-pay.html). As such, new careers are rising for addressing these needs, from networking/security experts to user experience and instructional designers.
The certificate provides a solid set of core courses but also flexibility for targeting these opportunities according to students’ aspirations and needs. The variety of job openings that match the scope of this program is well reported by looking at Indeed.com (one of the leading search engines for job offerings). By searching for ETEC related positions, results report over 3,000 jobs related to ETEC and other areas like health, communication, industry, and so on.