Prospective distance educators flock to certification programs, but some academics question their value
A few years ago, Cynthia B. Schuster began teaching online courses at the University of Baltimore, where she is a specialist in instructional technology. Nothing went awry, but, looking back, she says she spent too much time developing course material and gave students too much leeway on their deadlines.
“I went out on my own,” she says, “and I probably learned the hard way that it’s not always the best way to go.”
Ms. Schuster decided to get professional guidance. She enrolled in a master’s-degree program in distance education at the University of Maryland University College. The program teaches, among other things, how to teach online.
The Maryland program is one of a growing number that certify distance-education instructors and managers. Many of the students in these programs -- themselves overseeing the start of distance-education programs offered by colleges or businesses -- view certification as a quick way to gain experience in distance learning. And because they take the courses online, they experience learning from the vantage point of their future students.
As a result, the institutions offering distance-education certification programs are enrolling thousands of students -- college faculty members as well as people working for business and government. But some of them may not be getting all that they think they are paying for -- particularly those who believe that becoming certified in distance education will make them more marketable. In fact, many newly certified distance-education providers have found that the certification does not necessarily lead to job security or even to employment.
The providers of distance-education certification programs include California State University at Hayward, Indiana University at Bloomington, Marlboro College, Pennsylvania State University at University Park, the State University of West Georgia, the University of Illinois at Springfield, and the University of Wisconsin at Madison. One online directory, the Distance Education Clearinghouse, lists 17 such programs (http://www.uwex.edu/disted/certificates.html).
The certification programs differ from institution to institution. Some consist of just a few workshops, while others lead to a master’s degree. But they all start with the same material: lessons in pedagogy, development of skills in management and marketing, an introduction to correspondence programs and other types of distance learning, and a history of distance education. Apart from the programs that offer degrees, certification carries no official weight, but it does give an air of authority to the people who earn the certificate.
The programs go well beyond the simple technology training offered by many institutions that have online courses. All Penn State faculty members who teach online, for example, are trained to use course-management software in a program that lasts only a few days. It does not lead to certification, but it does include tips on how to organize online courses.
Professors don’t have much time for a rigorous training process, says Karen I. Pollack, a program manager at Penn State World Campus, the university’s distance-education program. “It’s a practical reality of the amount of time that they have,” she says.
By comparison, Penn State’s certification program for distance education is much lengthier and more detailed, consisting of six courses that require about a year and a half to complete. Tuition for each course costs $1,251. Participants pay an additional $80 as an information-technology fee and $50 to $125 for materials.
The Penn State program is designed for people who want to run a distance-education program or be able to teach other instructors in distance learning, whether print- or computer-based. In the courses, students have to perform tasks that include evaluating other online courses and preparing a budget to create a distance-education program.
“It’s good starting place for people who want to move into this area,” Ms. Pollack says.
John W. Curtis, director of research at the American Association of University Professors, says that although he is not familiar with specific certification programs, he is glad that they do more than train people to perform given skills. Higher education, he says, should teach students how to think for themselves.
“The idea of training undermines the whole idea of education,” he says. “There’s got to be interaction. Students need to be encouraged to explore ideas on their own.”
University of Maryland University College’s program offers master’s degrees in the subject. The effort began in 1995 as a 10-week seminar in conjunction with Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, in Germany.
By 2000 it had grown into a graduate program, now with about 300 students from around the world. The cost is $1,626 per course, or $996 for Maryland residents.
Eugene D. Rubin, associate dean of graduate studies, says that the program provides guidelines on how to offer a good education, but that it keeps the instruction broad enough so students can adapt the material to their individual circumstances.
The courses at Maryland cover a variety of topics, including how to put student services online, how to design a distance course, and how to evaluate technology to use in online courses. “This is a field that tends to be, correctly or incorrectly, driven by technology,” Mr. Rubin says. “People are itching to jump into technology.”
The University of Wisconsin at Madison offers a professional-development program, which takes about a year to complete. Courses, at $480 each, cover topics that include designing courses and teaching strategies. Christine Olgren, the program’s director, says that while it teaches about providing distance education through a variety of technologies, including the Internet, video, and satellite, what’s most important is that students learn the basics of teaching at a distance.
“Philosophy is one part of it,” she says. “It really goes into the techniques that you need to know.”
Janet Gubbins is a distance-education support specialist at West Georgia, where the certification program takes six months to complete and does not lead to a degree. One of the most beneficial aspects of learning to be an online professor through such a program, she says, is that the courses themselves are online. That way the certified professor leaves the program with an inside knowledge of what it’s like to be a distance-education student.
“You can’t be an effective teacher unless you’ve walked a mile in their shoes,” she says.
Ms. Schuster, the Baltimore faculty member, says taking the courses online also helped her fit them into her schedule. “As a mother of two young kids, online is the only way I’ll go to school.”
She does most of her work helping other faculty members with their classroom technology. She also oversees the university’s interactive-video program, which includes some distance education.
But she hopes eventually to teach more online courses. Not only would it be fun, she says, but it also would allow her to work from home. “Eventually I don’t want to come downtown anymore,” she says.
A Plus, but Not Required
If she were to apply for a job at another college, Ms. Schuster believes, certification would improve her prospects. Unlike work experience, she says, certification offers tangible proof that an instructor has demonstrated some understanding of distance education.
But some academic officials disagree. No institutions appear to be requiring their faculty members to become certified in distance education.
Many of the students who join Maryland’s certificate program are either job hunting or hoping for promotions, Mr. Rubin says. But certification won’t necessarily help, he says, arguing that traditional academic qualifications still weigh more heavily than a distance-education certificate. An applicant with years of experience usually fares better, he says.
Mr. Rubin says program participants regularly ask whether certification will get them jobs at community colleges. “The fact that they are trained to teach online or have experience teaching online is a plus,” he says. “But it’s not required.”
For those without any experience in distance education, however, certification is a good way to start, he says. “They’re taking it because it looks to them like an entry point. You’re not a trained teacher when you come out of these things.”
Carol Twigg, executive director of the Center for Academic Transformation, at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, says that while showing proficiency in distance education could help people land jobs as faculty members, it won’t make up for a lack of a Ph.D. “I don’t think it’s going to be a determining factor,” she says.
Tina Stavredes is faculty director at the School of Education at Capella University, an online institution. She makes hiring decisions for professors based mainly on academic qualifications. “The most important thing that we’re looking for is a practitioner, someone who’s been out in the field applying their knowledge,” she says.
Certification as a distance educator may mean little to some colleges because the standards behind the certificate vary from institution to institution. But even so, Ms. Twigg points out, distance instruction is still more standardized than traditional instruction. Most institutions don’t teach faculty members how to teach before they step into a traditional classroom.
“People somehow assume that you go to graduate school, then you can go into the classroom,” she says.
Some of the people who go through certification programs, Ms. Twigg says, are simply looking for that extra bit of training on how to be a good instructor. “They’re going to focus on pedagogy,” she says. “And it’s hard to find such training in a college program.”
Some distance-education providers say the certification programs will appeal to those businesses that offer online training. Patrick Partridge is vice president for marketing and enrollment at Western Governors University, an online institution. He says that distance education is moving into every industry, and that executives are seeking guidance from institutions with strong distance programs. “The whole online-training arena is bigger than the current online-higher-education arena,” he says.
More Than One Motive
Students enroll in certification programs for a number of reasons. Sallie J. Johnson, dean of distance learning at Troy State University, in Troy, Ala., signed up for West Georgia’s program to keep herself current in distance-learning skills and to see if it would be helpful for people on her staff. Troy State’s distance program has an enrollment of 7,000.
“I’m the type of person that wants to make sure that I have all tools that I need to do my job,” Ms. Johnson says. “I felt like it was an enrichment.”
A year after finishing the program, she developed a short program that trains Troy State faculty members to teach online.
Charlene Templeton, coordinator of noncredit computer training at Harford Community College, in Maryland, says that in the Maryland program, she learned techniques for keeping online courses interactive. She went on to create a tutorial that tests whether students can handle online-education programs.
“I had a student who couldn’t even figure out how to turn on a computer,” she says. “If you don’t know how to turn on a computer, you have no business being in a distance course.”
Desire to advance in the private sector motivates many students in the certification courses. Sharon Frizzell, a lead instructional designer at Command Technologies Inc., which creates information-technology support services, says she took the Maryland program to stay competitive in her field. Online education has become a popular method of training among federal agencies, which are regular customers of the Virginia-based company. “Technology is moving at a pretty fast pace,” she says. “Given that I’m middle-aged or better, I have to keep up with the younger kids to stay employed.”
Ms. Schuster says the master’s program at Maryland has helped her continue learning new skills, if for nothing more than her own satisfaction. “I wanted to see how technology can be used for furthering lifelong learning,” she says. “It never hurts to keep learning, no matter what.”
http://chronicle.com Section: Information Technology Volume 50, Issue 10, Page A31
