The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa College of Education Department of Educational Technology recently announced a new graduate certificate in online learning and teaching (COLT). A one-year departmental program since 2009, COLT has been designated an official certification program by the Mānoa Chancellor’s Office and received a Certificate of Endorsement from the Association for Educational and Communications Technology (AECT) having aligned with the association’s rigorous standards.
“This provides non-degree seeking individuals the option to gain certification in the growing industry of distance learning without investing in a full academic program,” explained Associate Professor and COLT Coordinator, Michael Menchaca.
The goals of the program include increasing the number of effective e-learning educators, providing high quality workforce education and professional development, improving e-learning outcomes for Hawai‘i’s children, and encouraging the widespread use of emerging technologies.
Chair of the Department of Educational Technology, Ellen Hoffman, said, “We are very excited to be able to offer this program and recognize that distance learning is impacting all areas of education. Programs like COLT will make major contributions to the workforce of the state.”
COLT is designed for those interested in K–12 virtual schooling, college distance teaching, corporate training, online learning administration, systems evaluation, and other areas of online education. The program can be completed as an elective sequence in current educational technology graduate degree programs and has already received applications since it was entered into the registration system for fall 2012.
Students in the program learn to create and use e-learning resources, explore new tools and apps that are impacting online learning, manage online learning environments, and understand how to apply these in their own workplace. All courses are taught fully online so students experience many techniques and tools of distance learning as part of their coursework. No previous online learning experience is required for admission to the certificate program.
