Exploring a Job-Embedded Online Program
The fact that the TLSI degree is job-embedded and online is new to many educators. We want to share with you what that means to us and how this innovative approach to teacher professional development is making a difference in the lives of teachers, students, schools, and communities!
How do you make the TLSI program job-embedded?
You must be a practicing educator in a school to participate in this program. The reason for this is in the TLSI program you take what you are learning and try it out in some fashion in your school. Therefore, you must have ready access to the school environment (students, teachers, data, etc.) throughout your entire degree program. You will examine what is happening with you, your students, your coworkers, determine the effectiveness of your actions, and then make decisions based upon the evidence you gather. A majority of the assignments and tasks in this degree take place in your school. In addition, as part of the TLSI program, you will be creating a portfolio showcasing a variety of artifacts documenting your growth. The creation of your portfolio contributes to the academic credits you will earn within this program. Therefore, the combination of assignments, tasks, and portfolio development that takes place within your school (and often as part of your job) this allows this to truly be a job-embedded degree program.
How Do You Foster an Active & Collaborative Community of Learners in an Online Environment?
Great question and one that is frequently asked! First, even though this is an online degree, you are going to get to know your faculty advisor and colleagues in this program better than you would in a face-to-face program. You'll communicate with your faculty advisor, instructors, and peers in a variety of ways: email, phone, blogs, online discussion forums, and other Internet 2.0 tools along with synchronous communication tools such as Elluminate. At the conclusion of their degree programs, teachers always comment on how well they know their peers and the level of communication was actually better in this online program than in many face-to-face experiences they've had. You won't be able to sit by the sidelines and not participate in discussions, activities, and task. You will be working with your instructors and peers in this program. We are a true and active learning community in the TLSI program!
Would I Be a Good Online Learner?
This is an incredibly important question to ask yourself if you are planning to participate in an online degree. We use Moodle as our online course management system along with many other Internet 2 tools (ie: blogs, chats, wikis, etc.). Feel free to look at the opening page.
You'll also want to take some online surveys that provide you with insight into whether you would be a good online learner.
Self-Evaluation for Potential Online Students
Tips for Being Successful in the TLSI Online Program
We've provided some hints to success in an online program. If you have others you'd like for us to share with others, just let us know.
1. Be sure you have easy and reliable high speed Internet access. Dial-up access will not be sufficient for today's courses. Make sure your computer meets the hardware and software requirements.
2. Be willing to spend the time necessary to be successful in the courses. Our recommendation is you commit 16 hours per week for each course in which you are enrolled. Our online courses are 8 weeks long. Therefore to devote 135 hours of preparation (what is recommended for each face-to-face course) this comes to 16 hours a week.
3. Plan to be online participating in your courses a minimum of 7 times a week. You also need to do this throughout the week. Just working on weekends will not work in many of our online courses.
4. Schedule time to work on your calendar. Also, be sure to record due dates and other important course deadlines.
5. Take time to get to really know your instructor and peers. Although most courses foster this, the more you invest in each other, the better the experience.
6. Keep in close contact with your instructor and faculty advisor. We're happy to answer questions and lack of communication can breed frustration for everyone.
7. Remember that you will be developing a portfolio of artifacts that provides evidence of your professional growth. You will also be writing a thesis quality paper interweaving your artifacts, professional practice, and research and professional literature.
8. Purchase the 5th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA). This will greatly assist you in written presentation of your assignments and portfolio.
