Certificate Series: Virtual High School Inc. Partnerships

I believe this will conclude the Certificate Series, where I have been describing and discussing each of the certificates in online teaching that are focused on the K-12 environment. The ninth and final one I wanted to discuss was the Certificate in Online Teaching and Learning offered by several institutions through a partnership with Virtual High School (VHS).

VHS offers a variety of professional development courses, but the five that appear to be mainstays (i.e. not special or new topics, such as the Fractions for Elementary School Teachers currently being offered) are:

21st Century Teaching and Learning explores the technology literacy and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills needed for effective 21st century teaching and learning.

Web-Enhanced Classroom prepares face-to-face teachers to incorporate online resources into their classroom instruction.

Online Extended Teaching prepares teachers to promote active independent learning experiences for students by joining the best features of in-class teaching with online learning.

Web 2.0: Collaborative Instruction prepares teachers to use Web 2.0 tools to generate new and exciting learning experiences for students of all abilities and learning styles.

Becoming an Online Teacher gives participants the opportunity to experience online teaching by partnering with a VHS online master teacher in an established middle or high school course. Please note that taking and passing this course does not make one eligible to become a Virtual High School teacher.

These are described as six week courses. In-service teachers that complete these professional development courses can receive graduate credit from Endicott College (Beverly, MA), Plymouth State University (Plymouth, NH), Framingham State College (Framingham, MA), Northwest Nazarene University (Nampa, ID), Salem State College (Salem, MA), or North Dakota State University (Fargo, ND). The amount of graduate transfer credit per course for each institution is described here.

In addition to simply receiving graduate credit, you can also receive a Certificate in Online Teaching and Learning by completing all five of these professional development courses from either Endicott College’s Van Loan School of Graduate and Professional Studies or Plymouth State University’s College of Graduate Studies (note that there is no mention of this on the Endicott College’s website).

I believe this concludes the Certificate Series.