Doctoral Specialization in Instructional Technology
The Instructional Technology Doctoral Specialization prepares individuals to work in a variety of educational settings and bring expertise to fellow employees and students in effectively utilizing technology as a learning tool. Individuals will develop skills and knowledge in learning with technology, faculty and staff development, and skills in the use of hardware and software in the areas of computing, distance learning and networking. This specialization may cover a broad range of topics from the application of technology in K-12 schools at both teaching and administrative levels to the application of learning theory to develop and evaluating technology-based learning materials. The focus of students in this specialization is determined by the needs of the student and the recommendations of the mentor and doctoral committee members.
Admission Requirements
Required doctoral programs in Education Studies (EDUS) apply to this specialization. A faculty mentor associated with the Instructional Technology program is required for admission to the specialization.
Program Requirements
Doctoral program requirements of the Graduate College and Education Studies apply to this program. As part of this program doctoral students are expected to complete a minimum of 24 hours of coursework in at least five curriculum areas, and demonstrate skill in all six areas (Research Skills, Cognitive, Social and Ethical Foundations, Teaching with Technology, Advanced Technology Skills, Administration of Technology in Schools, and Staff Development and Consultation). In addition, doctoral students are expected to have deep experience in two of these areas, and research experience in at least one.
Program and Learning Goals
Program and learning goals for Instructional Technology have been developed based on an awareness of the International Society for Technology in Education Standards for Advanced Programs in Educational Computing and Technology Leadership and faculty assessment of potential professional responsibilities of graduates. The programs develop graduates that will serve in K-12 schools, colleges and universities and other education and technology related fields. The program draws from courses and experiences across all departments in the college.
1. Research Skills
Candidates:
(a) summarize and apply principles and practices of educational research in educational technology; and
(b) design a research project that includes evaluating the use of a specific technology in an educational context.
2. Psychological and Social Foundations
Candidates:
(a) Describe social and historical foundations of education and how they relate to the use of technology in schools;
(b) Identify research related to human and equity issues concerning the use of computers and related technologies in education;
(c) Apply theories of learning, teaching, and instructional design and their relationship to the use of technology to support learning; and
(d) Demonstrate methods for teaching social, ethical, and legal issues and responsible use of technology.
3. Teaching and Learning Technology
Candidates:
(a) summarize major research findings and trends related to the use of technology in education to support integration of technology in a K–12 environment;
(b) describe and analyze accepted principles of strategic planning to facilitate curriculum design for teaching with computers and related technologies;
(c) identify and use national, state, and local guidelines to develop curriculum plans for integrating technology in the K–12 environment;
(d) apply effective methods and strategies for teaching the use of technology tools.
4. Advanced Technology Skills
Candidates:
(a )Evaluate authoring and programming environments for use in the classroom. They will apply instructional design principles to develop, implement, and test interactive multimedia instructional products using authoring environments.
(1) use and apply more than one computer authoring and/or programming environment.
(2) describe the characteristics and uses of current authoring environments and evaluate their appropriateness for classroom applications.
- describe the characteristics and uses of current programming and scripting environments and evaluate their appropriateness for classroom use.
- apply instructional design principles to the design of screens, text, graphics, audio, and video in instructional products under development.
- describe and practice strategies for testing and evaluating instructional products designed.
- apply instructional design principles to develop substantive interactive multimedia computer-based instructional products.
(b) Implement information access and delivery resources in K–12 schools to support the curriculum
- Identify and use information access and telecommunication tools to support research and instruction throughout the curriculum.
- use and implement distance learning delivery systems including computer, audio, and video conferencing.
- create multimedia presentations using advanced features of a presentation tool and deliver them using computer projection systems.
- install, configure, and use local mass storage devices and media to store and retrieve information and resources.
- describe issues related to selecting, installing, and maintaining WANs for school districts.
(c) install, customize, and configure the operating systems of computers and computer networks in school settings.
- Identify and describe the major operating systems associated with computing platforms found in K–12 schools.
- Identify and manipulate preferences, defaults, and other selectable features of operating systems commonly found in K–12 schools.
- Use and manipulate networking software to effectively manage the operation of a LAN.
- Evaluate, troubleshoot, install, and maintain computer operating systems for classrooms and laboratories.
(d) identify and implement software in both classroom and administrative environments. They will investigate issues related to school and site planning, purchasing, and technology integration.
5. Administration of Technology in Schools
Candidates:
(a) Develop curricular plans based on local, state, and national standards for the use of computers and other associated and describe and analyze accepted principles of strategic planning to facilitate curriculum design for teaching with computers and related technologies.
(b) Demonstrate knowledge of issues related to facilities and resource management.
(c) Demonstrate knowledge of strategies for and issues related to managing the change process in schools
6. Consultation and Staff Development
Candidates:
(a) Demonstrate knowledge of issues and models related to leadership in staff development. Candidates will plan and design staff development activities for educational settings.
Portfolio Requirements
The Instructional Technology Specialization is supervised by an interdisciplinary group of faculty from different departments and colleges. The intent of this specialization is for recipients to have very high levels of technological literacy with respect to solving school, home, work-place, and community-based learning situations. For this reason, the participating faculty have identified a number of areas and skills germane to these literacies. These are expressed: (a) At the time of developing a program of studies, each candidate develops a personal plan for portfolio completion. (b) Progress with respect to this plan is reviewed annually.(c) Certification of acceptance of the portfolio is made by a standing committee of IT-IBE faculty on the occasion of the doctoral comprehensive examination..
Please see the Portfolio Matrix for more dtails on the elements and criteria for doctoral portfolios. Click here.
Instructional Technology Faculty
Charles Ansorge, Ph.D. Educational Psychology
Bradley Barker, Ph.D 4-H Youth Development
David Brooks, Ph.D. Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education
Roger Bruning, Ph.D. Educational Psychology
David Fowler, Ph.D. Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education
Delwin Harnisch, Ph.D. Teaching Learning and Teacher Education
Christy Horn, Ph.D. Educational Psychology
James King, Ph.D. Agricultural Leadership Education and Communication
LeenKiat Soh, Ph.D. Computer Science and Engineering
Al Steckelberg, Ph.D. Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education
Sheldon Stick, Ph.D. Educational Administration
Further Information
For information on this specialization, please contact:
Shari Daehling
Graduate Student Services Center
(402) 472-3098
116 Henzlik Hall
Al Steckelberg, Ph.D.
IT-IBE Program Coordinator
Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education
(402) 472-5491
59 Henzlik Hall
