Educational Technology Leadership

Program Assessment

Candidate Admissions Assessment

Admission to the program is based on the assessment of the following prerequisites:

Skills:

• Screening for technology background
• Paper screening of department application
• BA GPA 3.0
• Telephone interview of candidates

• Satisfactory completion of the University Writing Skills test

Knowledge:

• Technological background
• Familiarity with authoring tools
• Familiarity with the Internet
• Familiarity with the Web
• Familiarity with integration of technology into curriculum
• A valid teaching credential (recommended)

Disposition:

• Two letters of recommendation or nomination from a school district
• Screening of Statement of Purpose
• Personal Interview

Candidate Mid-Point Assessment

Candidates are assessed continuously throughout the program based on the following criteria:

Skills:

· Assessment in coursework. Candidates must demonstrate an ability to integrate learning theories and instructional design principle into technology. These skills are assessed by the individual course projects and progress in course work.

• Assessment of Projects in Progress. Candidate’s course projects and participation is assessed in each course. Application of what they have learned into the design of their technologically based projects is an essential skill.

Knowledge:

• Formative Assessment. Candidates will demonstrate their acquisition of knowledge in the integration of learning theories and instructional design principles into their projects
• Critical Assessment. Critical analysis of educational technological practices on the Web or CD-ROMs is reinforced

Disposition:

• Assessment of Working with Collaborators. Candidates will demonstrate their beliefs in collaboration with partners and collaborator agencies such as NASA.
• Advisors assist those students who are having difficulty in any aspect of the program.
• High achieving students are asked to consider applying to a doctorate program after completion of their M.S. degree.

Candidate Exit Assessment

Skills:

• Show progress in all technologically based projects
• Maintain a 3.0 GPA

Knowledge:

All the core courses in the Graduate Program in Educational Technology have projects as their assignments. The student’s projects are used as the basis for the assessment. The following questions are considered in the assessment:

• Do students illustrate integration of the technological knowledge into their projects?
• Do students demonstrate an understanding of the concept of learning theories and instructional design principles as it applies to their projects? Do students demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of the concept of educational leadership?
• Have the students made plans for assuming a leadership role in their school or district?
• Do students show a willingness to engage in critiques of educational technology practice and policy?

Disposition:

• Before the final approval of their graduate projects or thesis, students are interviewed about their future goals.

Candidate Follow-Up Assessment

Disposition:

· Questionnaires are sent to our graduates. These students are asked to identify their current position in their schools and/or industry.

Program Assessment

Follow-Up Assessment

The graduate Program in Educational Technology has participated in SEAS follow-up studies with our graduate candidates. We used three kinds of forms:

1. Printed Survey Document

2. Electronic Survey Document

3. PDF Survey Document

In addition to SEAS follow-up studies, the Graduate Program in Educational Technology has a short program form as a follow up assessment tool. Below is the short Follow-Up Assessment Tool we mail to our students after they graduate from the program. We ask our students to provide the following information:

1. Personal

· Age: _________

· Gender: _______

• What position do you currently hold? (Check only one response)

q Teacher

q Counselor

q Administrator

q Non-school related employment

q Not currently employed

q Other

2. Degree Completed (You may check both responses)

q Master Degree:

q Certificate Degree:

3. Quality (Please indicate your belief about each of the following aspects of your education by using the following scaleJ

Very high quality	High quality	Adequate quality	Low quality	Very low quality
1	2	3	4	5

¾ Classroom facilities

¾ Facilities (e.g., Computer lab, classrooms)

¾ Classroom instruction

¾ Faculty expertise

¾ Faculty devotion

¾ Innovation in teaching

¾ Innovation in offering new courses

¾ Innovation in program structure

¾ Technology Instruction

¾ Teaching of educational software

¾ Teaching of authoring tools

¾ Responding to my individual needs as a student

¾ Availability of advisor

¾ Availability of faculty

¾ Availability of courses to complete my degree

¾ Convenience of time and day for course offerings

¾ Academic advising

¾ Career advising (job, special challenges in technology, etc.)

¾ Graduate project advising

¾ Safety and security

¾ Overall quality

The survey result is gathered each year and they are organized according to four major categories:

Skills:

· Classroom instruction

• Staff quality
• Technology Instruction

· Teaching of educational software

• Teaching of authoring tools

Knowledge:

• Faculty expertise in their content area
• Innovation in teaching
• Innovation in offering new courses
• Innovation in program structure
• Technology Instruction

Disposition:

• Responding to my individual needs as a student
• Availability of advisor
• Availability of faculty
• Availability of courses to complete my degree
• Convenience of time and day for course offerings
• Academic advising
• Career advising (job, special challenges in technology, etc.)
• Graduate project advising

Facilities:

• Classroom facilities
• Facilities (e.g., Computer lab, classrooms)
• Safety and security
• Overall quality

The results of these categories are then shared with other faculty and the Department of Teacher Education.

Best Practice & Research:

· In order to satisfy the ever-changing demands of the information age, the faculty in the program are expected to design courses that reflect current and emerging technology and current research in learning theories and instructional design. For example, our students are working with the technology team at NASA to integrate learning theories into emerging technologies. This collaboration is carried out in several different layers. First, the educational technology team from NASA is taking courses in our graduate program and working very closely with the coordinator of the program. Second, about nineteen of our current students are taking courses at NASA preparing to design instructional units using NASA’s content. Third, a National Science Foundation grant has been submitted to formalize our relationship. Finally, a textbook is being completed by the coordinator of the program about learning theories and their application to multimedia design. The book uses all NASA examples and the staff at NASA is editing it.

Professional Organizations:

All full-time faculty in the program are members of professional organizations such as American Educational Research Association (AERA) and others. Each year, the faculty will participate in the following organization to ensure that the graduate program meets the standards that have been specified by the following organizations:

• American Educational Research Association (AERA)
• Association of Computing Machinery (AMC)
• Human-Computer Interaction (BayCHI)
• IBM Interface Design (Make IT Easy)

Professional Standards:

· The program will also be reviewed in terms of the standards specified by NCATE. The program meets and exceeds the standards specified by the following organizations:

• Association of Computing Machinery (AMC)
• IBM Interface Design (Make IT Easy)