This course reviews data related to the effectiveness of educational initiatives emphasizing evidence- based instructional design models used to assess and instruct students with diverse learning needs. Special attention is given to inclusion of traditionally underrepresented learner populations (i.e. special education, LEP, economically disadvantaged, and ethnic minorities).

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This course develops competencies in utilizing formative and summative assessment practices and data to inform and guide curriculum development and instruction. Classroom and school-based assessment tools provide teachers with the knowledge and skills required to meet the needs of diverse learners. Embracing assessment is the first step towards "data-based" decision-making in education.

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This course enables students to become informed consumers of educational research and to develop skills that prepare them to carry out action research in their schools and classrooms. An emphasis is placed on providing students with knowledge that they can apply in determining whether particular research findings are relevant to their leadership and instructional practices and to distinguish between trustworthy and non-trustworthy research. Throughout the course, students identify the elements that scientifically-based research and action research share. Emphasis is placed on how research can become a vital and relevant tool for teachers and school leaders.

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This course explores the critical roles teachers play in decision making through the perspective of multiple stakeholders. Learners engage in leadership interactions to develop problem solving skills and the ability to become change agents for continuous school improvement.

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Learners explore paradigm shifts, current trends and issues in popular and educational technology, and interpret how they have affected society, schools, teachers, and students. From the perspective of preparing students to be critical consumers of information and producers of knowledge in and out of the classroom, learners construct a historical timeline and discovery depicting shifts, trends, and issues in their own school/district Successful measures to manage the change process in educational reform are identified and applied to an appraisal of the time-line and discovery. Ethical and legal practices, including those related to intellectual freedom, privacy, and adaptive and assistive services are explored and applied to the evaluation of school technology policy and procedure manuals and the development of a technology mission statement.

In this course, learners investigate and use information access and retrieval tools to support classroom and professional research. Learners will also conduct an analysis of the information access and retrieval tools in their own schools, identify areas of need, and make recommendations for improvement based on costs and benefits. Principles of conducting effective searches and evaluating the quality, relevancy, and accessibility of information and information access tools are explored and practiced. Additionally, learners will explore legal and ethical issues related to information access. Finally, learners will learn how to use the advanced features of a multimedia presentation tool to prepare instruction that shares these issues, principles and evaluation skills with both students and staff.

In this course, learners use and evaluate current and emerging technologies to improve learning and assessment. Learners are introduced to and then use a variety of multimedia tools to develop student learning projects that offer opportunities for the collection, tracking, and analysis student achievement. Such tools may include Webquests, wikis, blogs, electronic portfolios, and online discussion forums. Learners then evaluate the ability of the technologies to support cooperative and student-centered learning environments, multidisciplinary teaching, problem-based learning, and the needs of a diverse learner population. Finally, learners prepare a standards-based unit plan to introduce one or more of the technologies to an identified student audience and an accompanying assessment tool.

Using principles, theories, and models of curriculum design, learners build a school wide, standards-based technology curriculum that supports and enhances existing subject and content curriculum. Using the results of a current practices analysis, learners construct a measurable curriculum plan that promotes the integration and application of technology skills into the learning process, and that supports the needs for a diverse student population. Additionally, learners prepare an implementation timeline and presentation to introduce the curriculum. Both the timeline and presentation identify the supportive role of the educational technology leader in helping students to achieve the technology standards.

Learners apply theories of learning psychology, and models and principles of instructional design to the design of instruction and development of learning environments. Specifically, learners will analyze learning environments, learners, and learning tasks; identify and describe learning goals, objectives, and assessments; determine instructional strategies and appropriate learning and instructional materials; and design formative and summative evaluations. These tasks will be completed in the process of developing, simultaneously, a curricular unit for classroom and electronic distance learning environments. Learners will also explore current technology trends and issues as they apply to the instructional design process.

Applying principles of instructional design and adult learning, learners develop a technology curriculum that supports the professional growth of school faculty and staff. Upon the identification of technologies most commonly used in schools, learners will conduct a school-wide analysis of personal, professional, administrative, and instructional technology use. Additionally, learners identify and evaluate technologies to improve/facilitate productivity, communication, and instruction. Analysis and evaluation results will be used to prepare a curriculum plan and implementation timeline that introduces, develops, and reinforces technology skills and concepts. The role of the educational technology leader in this process will be evident. Learners will also prepare professional development plan for educational technology leaders to preserve their ability to effectively service students, faculty, and staff.

This course prepares learners to apply research, evaluation, and technical writing skills to the development of a school-wide educational technology proposal and presentation to improve and maintain services. Learners also use these skills to seek alternative sources and prepare an application for educational technology funding. To develop the proposal, learners conduct a strategic analysis to identify existing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Factors to be assessed in the analysis and addressed in the proposal include factors such as hardware, software, budget, alternative funding sources, staffing, licenses, space utilization, and security. Upon proposal completion, learners prepare a presentation, using a variety of media presentation tools, to be delivered to the school board and/or community.

Learners will become proficient in researching and evaluating networks, hardware and software commonly used in educational settings. Learners will investigate and share issues related to planning, purchasing, and integrating new systems and supporting existing systems. Operating systems maintenance and trouble-shooting strategies will be explored in the context of developing an instructional manual and training for a technology management team. Security concerns related to identity protection and filtering will also be explored.

The Capstone Experience is designed for candidates to demonstrate and document the impact of their knowledge and competencies gained throughout and as a result of this Educational Technology the program. It does this by having candidates provide specific artifacts produced along with or as a result of their courses' application assignments. Candidates align their work with the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for Educational Technology Facilitators as established by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) in collaboration with the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). Opportunities to use technology in synthesizing and reflecting upon their learning and future are also provided, culminating in students' construction of their own online electronic portfolio to provide a highly personalized framework for their planning and professional documentation beyond graduation.