1 Certificate in Educational Technologies With an option for a Master s Degree in Multidisciplinary Studies The Certificate in Educational Technologies has been designed to meet the professional development needs of exemplary International School educators including teachers and administrators. The certificate requires five courses which are described as follows: Course #1- Information Literacy and Ourselves as Learners Course description: Independent learning requires that students and teachers are able to evaluate the authenticity, relevance and bias of information that inundates us. They also must be able to filter out irrelevant information and stimuli and navigate graphical interfaces as well as varied types of text and media formats. Tools and strategies for teachers and students for accessing, filtering, evaluating and applying information will be addressed. To be independent learners, meta-cognition and an awareness of how we learn best are a critical part of a learning curriculum. Strategies for reflective practice and using prior knowledge to build understanding and deal with new technology will be incorporated in the course Course#2-21st Century Literacy Ideas, Questions, and Issues The 21 st Century learner had been bombarded with new technology, access to wide ranging global communication, and a plethora of information. Accompanying this new world of learning are ethical, moral, social, and emotional considerations that are changing the way in which our students are interfacing with the world. This course will explore current issues inherent in our technological world. Course #3- Visual Literacy: Effective Communicators and Creators The curriculum of design and attention to aesthetic has always been the property of the visual arts, however as so much our media is now consumed and created electronically a new set of visual literacies have emerged. Awareness of how an audience interacts with that medium and how to take advantage of this to strengthen their message or purpose for communication will be addressed. Course #4- Technology: Best Practice as a Catalyst for Learning Research based best practice for the embedded use of technology for learning will be shared and practiced. The focus will be on the habits that provide students with the ability to use technology for its greatest learning advantage. The best use of laptop computers, Smart boards, etc will be addressed as embedded tools to foster optimum learning of the curriculum. The optimal use of communication tools such as pod casts, blogs, nings, wikis, and voice threads will be addressed with tips for management and strategies to promote maximum learning in classrooms. Course #5- Alive in the Classroom: Applied Web 2.0 Technology for Learning The course will be about the classroom application, and reflection on the use of web 2.0 technology in the classroom. Participants will be asked to create a plan for the embedded use of technology to foster learning, share with the group and offer feedback on their cohorts embedded use of technology for learning. Did the use of technology lead to deeper learning?
2 Buffalo State, State University of New York (SUNY) will offer participants in the certificate program the option of graduate semester credit for individual courses and a certificate in Educational Technologies for those students who successfully complete all five courses. Participants also can apply those credits towards the Buffalo State, SUNY Master s degree in Multidisciplinary Studies program, designed for overseas educators with unique professional and educational objectives not readily met by traditional master s degree programs. Numerous national as well as over 800 international educators are currently enrolled in this degree program designed for internationally minded educators. The degree requires 30 graduate semester credits and now 15 of those credits can be earned through completion of the Educational Technologies Certificate Participants have the option to complete the 15 credit hours regardless of whether they choose to continue with a Master s degree. Buffalo State, SUNY offers graduate credit for stand alone certificates. Completion of all five of the courses offered will allow participants to apply for the Educational Technologies Certificate. Thus, graduate credits can be earned by completing the program without the requirement of continuing the degree program. This is advantageous to those educators who would like to earn credits for licensure renewal or certification purposes in the U.S., Canada as well as many other countries in the world. Educators who have been awarded the Educational Technologies Certificate can continue their Master s degree program by completing five additional courses (15 graduate credits). The two required courses, EDF 689 Methods and Techniques of Educational Research (action research) and EDU 690 Master s Project (culminating curriculum or other research-based project) are offered as on-line courses. Three additional credits can be earned through participation in the NESA Conferences and NESA workshops. The remaining two courses are electives selected in consultation with your assigned advisor from Buffalo State. Those courses can be completed at one of the 30+ international school sites that currently host our program or offered independently on-line. Buffalo State, SUNY is the largest college in the State University of New York (SUNY) system and is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and by the Board of Regents, State University of New York. The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) accredits the professional education programs. SUNY, a statewide system of 64 campuses, is the largest, most diverse multi-campus university in the United States. The International Graduate Programs for Educators Office of Buffalo State, SUNY is responsible for the Master of Science (M.S.) degree program in Multidisciplinary Studies for American/International Schools educators. Numerous American/International schools host the same degree program on site throughout the school year over a two-three year period of time. Appropriate staff of the school determines a plan that best meets the needs of the host school educators. We d be happy to share additional information with you about our on site programs if you are interested. The awarding of the Master of Science Degree does not provide Certification or Licensure although the courses offered are frequently applicable towards certification in most states. United States colleges/universities do not grant certification. Certification or Licensure is obtained through State Education Departments. For more information regarding U.S. certification and/or licensure the following website is linked to state certification offices: http://www.emtech.net/cert.htm
3 Our staff is dedicated to helping you throughout your graduate program and we look forward to working with you. Please feel free to contact us at any time with your questions and concerns. We look forward to hearing from you! Carolyn Brunner, Director Intlearning@buffalostate.edu 716-878-6834 Grace Vogt, Admissions Intlearning@buffalostate.edu 716-878-6832 Leah Loveless, Candidacy/ Plan of Study Intlearning@buffalostate.edu 716-878-3643 William F. Irene, Candidacy/Plan of Study Intlearning@buffalostate.edu 716-878-3643 Donna Brooks, Graduation/Course Registrations Intlearning@buffalostate.edu 716-878-6832 ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS AND PROCEDURES Applicants must hold a baccalaureate degree from an institution that is accredited by an approved U.S. regional accrediting agency or a degree that is equivalent to a U.S. four-year bachelor's degree. Students must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.5 (4.0 scale) in the baccalaureate degree. Buffalo State maintains a student-managed admissions process that requires an applicant to submit a complete application packet with all required components by the appropriate deadline. The Application for Admission and all other forms are available at www.buffalostate.edu/ilsc. Anyone with an incomplete application packet will be notified by e-mail, resulting in a delay in processing. Applicants are cautioned that a significant amount of time is required by the Graduate School to process an application and make an admission recommendation. The deadline for applicants is To Be Determined. A complete APPLICATION PACKET includes: 1. Completed Graduate Admission Application. Some of the fields have already been completed on the application for you. 2. Completed Application Fee Payment Form and a $50.00 U.S. nonrefundable application fee. Acceptable methods of payment: Money order, personal, certified or travelers check made payable to Research Foundation of SUNY. 3. Official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended in sealed envelopes. This includes transcripts for any coursework that was transferred into another institution s degree. Each institution must send the transcript directly to the applicant. Applicants submit unopened transcript envelopes with other application materials. Failure to report all previous college attendance on the application is considered to be academic dishonesty. Discovery of such dishonesty can result in dismissal from the program. 4. Applicants who completed their undergraduate degrees from post-secondary schools where English was NOT the first language must submit a certified English translation of all official transcripts along with their official or certified true copies of their transcripts from that institution.
4 5. A degree evaluation is required for all applicants who have completed a bachelor s degree outside the United States. Applicants must submit official copies of postsecondary diploma(s)/transcripts to one of the following organizations for a document-by-document evaluation to determine equivalency to a U.S. bachelor s degree: World Education Services, Inc., P.O. Box 745, Old Chelsea Station, New York, NY 10113-0745, Phone: (800) 937-3895, Fax: (212) 739-6100, www.wes.org. Josef Silny and Associates, International Education Consultants, P.O. Box 248233, Coral Gables, FL 33124, Phone: (305) 273-1616, Fax: (305) 273-1338 www.jsilny.com Applicants must contact either organization for the most current requirements and fees and to request or download an application from their website. All required forms, documents and fees must be sent by the applicant directly to that organization. The evaluation organization must send your document-by-document evaluation directly to our office using the following address: International Graduate Program for Educators 430C South Wing Buffalo State, State University of New York 1300 Elmwood Avenue Buffalo, NY 14222 USA The process can take up to four six weeks to complete after the agency has received all of your documents. Please do not include a copy of the evaluation in your admission packet. Your Application for Admission will not be reviewed until the document-by-document evaluation report has been received in our office from the organization completing your evaluation report. Canadian applicants holding undergraduate degrees from a Canadian college or university should submit their official transcripts to our office. If those transcripts follow a system similar to that of the United States, they will be evaluated locally. If not, Canadian applicants will be required to comply with the above international student credential policy. IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR ALL APPLICANTS Applications for Graduate Admission will not be processed until a complete APPLICATION PACKET is received by the International Graduate Programs for Educators Office. Coursework is not applicable to a degree program until you are formally admitted to the program. Applicants must assume full responsibility for knowledge of all of the deadlines and requirements for admission as detailed in this document. All required documents must be submitted by the appropriate deadline to: International Graduate Programs for Educators 430C South Wing Buffalo State, State University of New York 1300 Elmwood Avenue Buffalo, NY 14222 USA PLEASE do not submit a completed APPLICATION PACKET and degree evaluation (if required) to any other office or address at Buffalo State.
5 Once an applicant has been officially accepted, our staff will email an acceptance letter to you using the email address you provided on your Application for Admission. Please do not use hotmail email addresses. Hotmail frequently rejects emails from colleges and universities. DEGREE PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS 1. Completion of 30 credit hours that includes at least 15 hours of 600- and/or 700- level courses. 2. Two required courses, EDF 689 Methods and Techniques of Educational Research and EDU 690 Master's Project. The Master s project (three credit hours) is a research-based project on a topic of special interest to the student and must have prior approval by the instructor. Both of these courses must be completed on-line. The Research course will help students design a proposal for their culminating Master s Project and must be taken at least one semester prior to the completion of the Master s Project. 3. A maximum of 21 credit hours may be taken in Education (EDU) courses. The remaining credits should be from disciplines such as Educational Leadership (EDL), Educational Computing (EDC), Creative Studies (CRS), or Educational Foundations (EDF). 4. A maximum of 6 credit hours can be completed independently with prior approval from the Director of International Graduate Programs for Educators. 5. A maximum total of 6 credit hours of Workshop (EDU 594), Conference (EDU 596) and/or Special Topic (EDU 598) courses can be included in the program. 6. Students must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 (4.0 scale). 7. An application for admission to candidacy, approved by the student's principal advisor and advisory committee must be submitted to International Graduate Programs for Educators after the completion of 15 credit hours. ADVISEMENT The Director of International Graduate Programs for Educators will be your principal advisor (PA) and will serve with three additional graduate faculty including the Dean of the Graduate School as your advisory committee. Members of the advisory committee understand the unique needs of overseas educators and have considerable experience teaching graduate courses at schools overseas. The PA and advisory committee approve the student s plan of study (Application to Candidacy) and attest to the student s successful completion of the approved program. GRADUATE COURSE REGISTRATION Students need to complete course registration forms for each of the courses. Requests for the registration forms should be sent to Leah Loveless, Coordinator of Professional Development at intlearning@buffalostate.edu two weeks before the course begins. Completed registration forms along with payment should be sent to our office using trackable mail such as Federal Express or DHL no later than the first day of the course. The five required courses for the Educational Technology Certificate are as follows: ADE (Adult Learning)634 Workplace Literacy: Information Literacy and Ourselves as Learners EDC 601 Instructional Technologies: 21 st Century Literacy Ideas, Questions, and Issues
6 EDC 604 Authoring for Educators: Visual Literacy EDC 672 The Microcomputer in the Instructional Program: Technology: Best Practice as a Catalyst EDC 594 Emerging Technologies to Support Teaching & Learning: Alive in the Classroom GRADES Credits and grades for courses are recorded at the end of the semester. Due to the difficulties and inconsistencies of overseas mailing, grade reports will not be sent to students. Grades can not be obtained from this office due to confidentiality policies; however the instructor for the course can inform you of your grade. TRANSCRIPTS FROM BUFFALO STATE Transcripts from Buffalo State list all of the Buffalo State courses completed and the grades that were recorded for those courses. Transcripts serve as your official record of courses and grades. Transcript information is updated approximately four (4) weeks after the end of each semester. Official transcripts are not issued directly to students but are forwarded, upon request, to authorities that the student designates. Student copies may be ordered for personal use. Transcript request forms are available at: http://www.buffalostate.edu/registrar/documents/transcript.html or through the Registrar s Office, Moot Hall 210, Buffalo State, 1300 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York 14222. Transcripts from Buffalo State must be ordered through the Registrar s Office. APPLICATION FOR ADMITTANCE TO CANDIDACY Students, who wish to continue after the completion of the five Educational Technologies Certificate courses, must submit Applications for admittance to Candidacy. Candidacy is a written agreement outlining the courses necessary to receive a degree. All students must complete an Application for Admittance to Candidacy after the completion of 15 Buffalo State credit hours if they wish to continue with courses after completion of the five technology courses. The application lists the courses that the student will be taking to fulfill their requirements for their Master's degree. The Application for Admittance to Candidacy with additional details for completion will be sent to students at the time of acceptance into the program. Students must submit completed applications to International Graduate Programs for Educators. The student s principal advisor, advisory committee and Dean of the Graduate School must approve candidacy. Applications are reviewed at one of two advisory committee meetings each semester. Students will be notified by email if their application is incomplete or requires any additional documentation. Students will be notified by email when their Admittance to Candidacy has been approved. Failure to develop an approved program and be admitted to candidacy immediately after the completion of 15 graduate-level credit hours will restrict further registration. IMPORTANT! Course numbers and course titles listed on your Application for Admission to Candidacy must be Buffalo State, SUNY numbers and titles not the School technology course titles. Please keep copies of your course registration forms for course numbers and course titles. Numbers and titles can be found on the Buffalo State, SUNY website at www.buffalostate.edu/graduatestudies/gradcatalog/ and on your student transcripts.
7 CHANGES TO APPROVED DEGREE CANDIDACY Once a student's candidacy application is approved, changes can be made only with approval of the student s advisor, advisory committee and the Dean of the Graduate School. A Request for Change in Approved Graduate Degree Program form must be completed and submitted to International Graduate Programs for Educators. GRADUATION Finally--Graduation! In order for a graduate student to be awarded a master s degree the following requirements must be met: 1. Completion of your Application for Graduation, submitted to International Graduate Programs for Educators one semester prior to your anticipated graduation. Graduation Application fee of $100.00 U.S. dollars must be submitted with your Application for Graduation. You must apply for graduation by the deadline or your application for graduation will be processed for the following semester s graduation. 2. Completion of 30 graduate-level credit hours. The Dean and appropriate staff of the Graduate School will review your academic file to determine if you have met all requirements. 3. A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 (B) in all graduate coursework. 4. Completion of all coursework and degree requirements within the six-year period immediately preceding the date of graduation. 5. Completion of a minimum of 15 credit hours of 600- or 700-level coursework. 6. Approved candidacy and completion of all required coursework exactly as specified on your Application for Admission to Candidacy and Change in Approved Graduate Degree Program (if required). 7. Courses with a grade of I, N, or X must be completed and appropriate grades submitted. 8. All financial obligations to the college must be met. Students who do not meet the requirements for graduation by the semester for which they applied must submit a new application for graduation and pay a second application fee in accordance with established deadlines, for the semester in which the requirements will be completed. Your Master of Science Diploma and one student copy of your transcript will be mailed to the address indicated on your Application for Graduation. Please be sure to print the complete address on the form where you wish to receive your diploma allowing approximately 6-8 weeks after the end of the semester for processing and mailing. Mailing to some locations requires additional time which you should consider when you list your mailing address. STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES Graduate work is an extremely rewarding endeavor that demands rigorous scholarship, research, creativity, and professional competence. You, as a graduate student, must assume full responsibility for knowledge of all of the deadlines, rules, regulations and requirements of the program as detailed in
8 this document.. Please make copies of all of your applications, documents, course registrations, etc. and keep this document so that you can refer to it as often as necessary. Students are responsible for notifying International Graduate Programs for Educators of any change of name, mailing address or email address so that information and other mailings can be properly directed. Requirements and programs are subject to change, and students must be aware of current regulations.