Program Specializations
Communication in Education
The program in Communication prepares students for various roles:
Teaching and research positions in higher education;
Working in schools using information and communications technologies to improve educational practice;
Conducting formative and evaluative research in the areas of educational media and information technologies, in and out of school settings and across subject areas;
Designing innovations in the use of new media for educational purposes; and
Working in business and government settings to design and implement corporate communication programs.
The program uses methods of the social sciences, encompassing both qualitative and quantitative approaches to the study of communication and education. It asks in particular how education and other social systems change under the impact of new media. Faculty members and students pursue three broad areas of inquiry, enabling them to:
Reflect on the historical effects of media and on the cultural uses of developments such as face-to-face speech, writing, printing, photography, film, radio, television, computers, and networked multimedia;
Use anthropological and linguistic methods to study how the diverse forms of communication, literacy, information processing, and cognition condition educational practice; and
Explore positive and negative effects of media on social relations and develop strategies for using information and communication technologies to improve conditions of education and life.
In the course of completing a degree, the student should expect to attend closely to both technical artifacts and human activity; that is, both to material systems of communication in which technologies are the primary interest and to interpersonal, direct communication dynamics in which unmediated exchanges, face-to-face, are the subject of inquiry. A major theme for continuous reflection should be the diverse ways in which the modes of communication condition the meanings actually, and potentially,communicated - whether in face-to-face conversation or through a global broadcast using satellite transmission.
Computing in Education
Students who complete the master's program in Computing in Education take positions in:
Schools, as computer coordinators or teachers using advanced technologies in the classroom;
New media companies, developing software and multimedia applications for education, training, and gaming environments; and
Academic computer centers, corporate information services, and education departments at the federal, state, and local levels, managing the integration of information and communications technologies into schools.
Instructional Technology and Media
Students who have earned degrees in Instructional Technology and Media find positions in education, government, and industry. Some continue to work within formal education, as teachers, researchers, or administrators on the elementary, secondary, or college level. Others work in training and development departments in business or government agencies. An increasing number work as independent professionals in a variety of settings such as educational service, production consulting, and publishing. Still others have established themselves as researchers,designers, and producers for innovative multimedia projects.
The World Wide Web and related technologies have lowered the costs of distance learning programs greatly while increasing their flexibility. Through Instructional Technology and Media, faculty members and students join to develop the skills needed to make full use of the new opportunities in distance and distributed learning.
In recent years, students in the program have made four questions paramount:
Which emerging technologies hold greatest promise for enriching learning experiences throughout the educational enterprise?
What pedagogical strategies should designers embody in instructional materials, including those based on multimedia and those reflected in gaming environments?
How should educators deploy, manage, and evaluate information and communication technologies in classrooms for optimal educational effect?
What principles of design and practice should educators incorporate into distributed educational courses and programs?
Special Degree Cohorts:
Online Master’s Program in Computing in Education
The program in Computing in Education includes a strand in which all coursework is conducted online. The online program is designed for teachers and others who work with schools. Participants take about ten courses online, which use video conferencing, discussion boards, and other means of online communication. Besides these courses, students have the opportunity to work on independent projects, and they are welcome to attend workshops or courses in person at Teachers College. Students may begin the program in the Fall term (September to December), Spring term (January to May), or the Summer term (May to July). For more information, please write to Dr. Howard Budin at hb50@tc.columbia.edu, call (212) 678-3773, or visit http://www.tc.edu/mst/ccte/index.asp?Id=Degree+Information&Info=Computing+in+Education%3A+Online%2C+MA
Technology Specialist
An M.A. program leading to a New York State teaching license for “Technology Specialist K-12” prepares candidates to become technology coordinators in schools. Student teaching and fieldwork are required. The program is available to those with or without initial teaching licenses who have some knowledge and experience in using technology in teaching.
The Technology Specialist Program also offers a track for teachers who are already certified. The course of study is similar to the track for non-certified teachers, but also provides for courses and practicum experiences that emphasize leadership. The assumption is that certified teachers who are seeking additional certification as Technology Specialists, are already knowledgeable about schools are able to consider more leadership responsibilities within a school or district.
For further information, contact Dr. Ellen Meier at (212) 678-3829; ebm15@columbia.edu.