Dec. 3, 2007
An E-Learning and Online Teaching Certificate offered by the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Stout is filling the need for skilled online instructors.
The certificate program is designed to help educators teach in hybrid courses that use both classroom and online instruction, as well as fully online classes.
Four teachers from around the globe will receive the certificate Dec. 7. The teachers include educators at all levels: K-12, technical and community college instructors, and university faculty members.
Joy Nehr of Suffolk, United Kingdom, teaches seventh grade on a U.S. Air Force base for the Department of Defense Schools at Lakenheath Middle School. Nehr has taught for 12 years, and next year, she wants to teach online for the Department of Defense Schools.
Patricia Hutton, of South Plainfield, N.J., recently retired after 30 years of teaching middle school. She plans to be a consultant, designing and teaching professional development online courses for virtual teachers. Hutton also is interested in teaching in a virtual high school
“The courses in this program gave me practical tools and strategies to use as an effective online teacher,” Hutton said. “The opportunities to practice collaboration through Moodle, wikis and surveys, and to practice facilitating discussions, provided a hands-on demonstration of how to use these tools in a course. I highly recommend this program to anyone interested in teaching online.”
Julie Fischer, of Exeland, is a business and information technology instructor at Hayward High School. She selected the E-Learning Certificate courses as electives in her online master’s program at UW-Stout. Fischer’s goal is to become a certified online instructor and to "create an environment where students learn using the tools of the 21st century such as blogs, podcasts, online discussions, and other web 2.0 collaboration tools.”
As a result of this program, Fischer designed online staff training in online curriculum delivery for teachers at Hayward High School. In the next few years, she hopes the high school will offer online courses to area students who are home schooled or enrolled in charter schools. Fischer also is investigating new possibilities teaching online on a part-time basis at the community college level, as well as integrating online learning components into her current offerings at the high school.
Edwin Cierpial of Seoul, South Korea, is retiring this month after two decades in the U.S. Army. Cierpial, who has a doctoral degree in public administration, has been teaching part time at Soongsil University in Seoul for the past four years. He plans to move his family back to the United States, where he will pursue online teaching opportunities at the university level.
Students in the program gain practical hands-on experience as interns facilitating and managing online classes. The students also prepare an e-portfolio to aid their job search.
For more information, contact Dennis O’Connor, E-Learning and Online Teaching program adviser, at oconnord@uwstout.edu or (530) 318-1145 or (760) 471-5262.
Program information is online at
www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/elearningcertificate.html
