Online Education

The Road to an Online Master's Program

In the summer of 1999, the College of Education unveiled its first online course, READ 5354, Multicultural Literature for Children. This course was part of an initial plan to move the four graduate English as a Second Language (ESL) endorsement courses (12 semester credit hours) to the online environment. That first course had an enrollment of 19 students, eager and willing to try this new educational experience.

With administrative support from former UTA President Robert Witt, the original plan to move only the four ESL courses was quickly modified in the fall and a decision was made to take the entire Master’s of Education in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Reading online. A master plan for bringing courses online was developed with at least one course per semester being developed and deployed until the complete 36 hour M.Ed. was available by the Summer 2001 semester.

Since its initiation, the online M.Ed. has been a popular program with a growing enrollment. At first, both the online and on campus version of a course were offered in a semester so that metroplex UTA students could have an option of taking courses in a traditional face-to-face format or via distance education. However, the popularity of the online format quickly outstripped the ability to keep up with the demand. Now, only a few of the M.Ed. courses in the Reading sequence are offered on campus with the majority being offered only online.

Partners in Distance Education

Beyond administrative support from the university president and the Dean of the College of Education, there was strong technical support for our online venture. This was essential since the faculty involved in this initiative were novices in the field of distance education. Our partners in bringing the master’s program online were the University of Texas TeleCampus (UTTC) and the UTA Center for Distance Education.

The UT TeleCampus is a central support system for online education initiatives among the fifteen universities and research facilities that comprise the UT System.

The Center for Distance Education (CDE) is a world-class site for the development and delivery of Internet-based University classes. It is the mission of the CDE to retool undergraduate and graduate courses for more flexible delivery to learners enrolled by the University of Texas at Arlington.

Partnerships Across Programs

While the Master of Education with an emphasis in Reading is a program within the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, one of the courses is crosslisted with the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. EDUC 5322, Educational Research and Evaluation, is a course available to both C&I as well as Educational Leadership students. This flexibility to complete at least one of their required courses online has been very popular among the Educational Leadership students.

Addressing the Literacy Needs of K-12 Students

The first program in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction to move online was the M.Ed. with an emphasis in Reading. This 36 hour program was targeted due to the state and national focus on literacy for K-12 students. The growing
population of English language learners in Texas made the English as a Second Language (ESL) endorsement sequence an ideal first online option. In only three semesters (from Summer 1999-2000), all four of the required ESL courses were made available to those individuals who wished to add this additional credential to their initial teaching certificate.

The remainder of the courses in the M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Reading were developed and deployed by the Summer 2001 semester. With the full M.Ed. available, students were able to not only earn a master’s degree but to also add up to three valuable credentials to their initial certification. The three certificates available within the M.Ed. sequence are the English as a Second Language endorsement, the Reading Specialist certificate, and the Master Reading Teacher certificate.

Meeting the Need for Highly Qualified Teachers

The popularity of web-based classes led to a decision to consider developing additional courses/programs for online delivery. The need for fully certified teachers and the focus on training highly qualified teachers were driving forces behind the development and deployment of the secondary certification sequence. Following the same type of phasing in plan of the M.Ed., the five courses in the secondary certification sequence were brought on one each semester. The final course to be developed was an online practicum including a unique option for electronic supervision of student teachers and training for mentor teachers.

The five courses of the secondary initial teacher certification sequence can be applied to the Master of Education in Teaching.

For active military personnel interested in becoming certified teachers at the secondary level, UTA has a Troops to Teachers connection. The online secondary certification sequence meets the educational needs of many military members across the world.

Spotlight on Students

Initially, most of the students taking advantage of the online courses were metroplex UTA students. However, news of the program soon spread and more and more students from outside the metroplex joined the ranks of students in the M.Ed. Currently, we have students from across the United States and living in several other countries. Some students opt to combine online courses with their on campus courses in the M.Ed. with Reading emphasis or in the M.Ed. with a general Curriculum & Instruction emphasis. Other students opt for only online courses for a variety of reasons. In 2003, the online M.Ed. had its first completely online graduates.

See also: Testimonials